Back in Time
by lorixjake
Summary: The MoM has invented a more powerful time turner to go back and save those lost in the second great war. Hermione goes back in time to tell the Marauders and Dumbledore about their journey to defeat Voldemort. But will it be enough to save them? [Hemione G, Sirius B] rated T for language, R&R
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Time Travel.

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood in the Headmistresses office at Hogwarts for the first time in over a year, waiting wearily for Professor McGonagall. It had been a long day. They wondered what could possibly be so important at this late hour.

"What d'ya reckon she wants?" Ron muttered.

"No Idea." Hermione said, her hand clutching his tightly. Harry remained silent, watching the painting of Albus Dumbledore snoring gently behind the desk.

Finally, the door banged open and the trio whipped around. A tired looking Professor McGonagall came striding into view. The loud noise had woken many of the snoring portraits and they looked around sleepily. The Headmistress sat down behind the desk, clutching what looked like a time-turner.

"Professor, what's going on?" Ron blurted out.

"Mr Weasley, the Ministry of Magic has been trying for over a year to create a time turner powerful enough to transport a person back years. We wish to send someone back to change the course of history. We won the war but at what price? We wish to go back and stop Voldemort before he can kill so many innocent people." The three just gaped at her.

"That's possible?" Harry finally spoke. She nodded and held up the object in her hand.

"This should take you back to this very spot on this date the year your parent's died Potter."

"We can save my parents?" He stared, open mouthed. She gave him a smile and nodded.

"I want to go." He said immediately.

"We actually want Miss Granger to go."

"WHAT! They are my parents!" Harry yelled.

"Yes Mr Potter. However, we feel that Miss Granger has more experience with time travel and would be the best to do the explaining. It's going to take some smoothing over to convince everyone that you are from the future. But, we do need you to do something." McGonagall said. Harry was fuming. After everything he had been through, McGonagall wanted someone else to go back and meet his parents.

"What is it?" Harry's voice was dull.

"We need you to write down everything that has happened since you were left at the Dursley's all those years ago. Well, since just before you started Hogwarts. Miss Granger will tell the story to a few selected people. This should give them enough information to hopefully destroy him back in that time."

"Who are you going to tell?" Ron asked.

"Myself and Albus obviously. I was thinking of Mr and Mrs Potter, Mr Black and Mr Lupin. Obviously Mr Pettigrew should not be involved."

"I get to see baby Harry!" Squealed Hermione. Harry groaned. "When would I leave Professor?"

"As soon as Harry has the notes for you." McGonagall told her. All three nodded. "Come back here when you are ready." They took the dismissal and left. Nobody spoke as they marched through the Hogwarts grounds to the boundaries where they could apparate back to Harry and Ginny's cottage. The walked in, each lost in their own thoughts. Ginny had food cooking and all three realised how hungry they were.

"What did Professor McGonagall want?" Ginny asked as they sat down to eat.

"To send Hermione back in time to save everyone who died fighting You-Know-Who." Said Ron casually. Ginny spat out her mouthful of food.

"What?"

"Yeah."

"Why not send Harry?"

"Apparently Hermione would handle it better than me." Harry said miserably.

"That's nonsense." Ginny said, indignant on his behalf. Although she secretly agreed that Hermione would be better at being diplomatic. Harry tended to act with his heart not his head, even though she loved him for that. She would probably have died if he didn't, back in her first year at Hogwarts.

Harry said nothing more for the rest of the meal. The others all chatted about the details of who could be saved and how their lives would be different.

Once he had finished, Harry excused himself and went to his bedroom. A few minutes later Ginny came in and sat on the bed beside him.

"I want to see them Ginny." He said in a quiet voice.

"I know Harry." She said, her voice matching his quiet tone. "But if Hermione is successful you can grow up with and live with them."

"I guess." He said dully. Ginny knew that nothing was going to stop Harry brooding if he really wanted to brood. He was the king of doing that. So she squeezed his arm and went back to the others. Harry lay back, closing his eyes and tried to remember everything that had happened over the last eight years.

As details came flooding back to him, he sat up and reached for a quill. Even if he couldn't see them, he could do this for his parents. And Sirius, and Remus. Everything he knew that could kill Voldemort would be his gift to them. He began writing and didn't stop until the sun finally peeked over the edge of the windowsill and he looked up with startled surprise. It was morning. He looked over at the bed and saw Ginny asleep, her flaming hair in a mess over the pillow. He smiled to himself. Stretching, Harry looked down at the piles of parchment that recounted his adventures in his first year at Hogwarts. At least James would get to find out his son was awesome at Quidditch. That was a bonus.

He couldn't wait to discuss his writing with Ron and Hermione. He needed to know if there was anything he missed. Yawning, he put down the quill and crawled into bed beside Ginny, wrapping one arm around her. Next moment, he had fallen asleep.

"Harry! Harry! Wake up." Hermione was standing over him shaking him arm.

"What?" He said groggily.

"Ron and I read what you wrote. It's amazing. You didn't miss a thing. We wanted to help you write the next few years."

"That would be great." He yawned. "Please do. But first, I want breakfast." He stood up and shooed Hermione out so he could get dressed. He ran to the kitchen just in time for Ginny to serve pancakes.

"'inny, you are a marvelous 'ook." Ron said through a huge mouthful of pancakes. Hermione hit him on the arm.

"Don't talk with your mouth full Ronald." Harry grinned and dug into his plate with gusto.

When they were all done, all four of them headed into the study to start writing the books together. As Ginny started Hogwarts in the next year she came along too. For the rest of the day they sat and wrote, laughing at their stupidity and giggling at some of the things they had done. Hermione blushed furiously when they had to write about Lockhart.

"Slimy git." Muttered Ron.

"Ron!" Exclaimed Hermione, but she was trying to hide a smile. Before long they had the next couple of years written.

"Telling those guys about our third year is going to be really painful." Harry said sadly. "We spend the entire thing thinking Sirius Killed mum and dad. Sirius is going to be beside himself. You should tell him that he didn't do it at the start."

"But I need to tell things in order." Hermione said.

"Yes, but give the man a little comfort. He is going to think he betrays his best and closest friend, getting them killed in the process."

"And don't forget how much he loved Harry. Everyone thought that Sirius wanted to kill Harry, that's going to be hard to hear." Put in Ginny. "You don't have to explain what happened, just let him know he didn't betray them."

"Ok." Hermione agreed. She didn't want to cause Sirius any pain either.

By that evening all but their last year had been written. Harry and Ginny had great fun reminiscing about their get together, while Ron and Hermione looked thoroughly embarrassed by their own behaviours. They also look embarrassed by how much arguing they actually had done. Harry just shook his head.

It was the day after before they could get the final part right. Every detail of the horrid battle, Each of them drew silent, tears sliding down their faces as they each remembered who they had lost. Once again they mourned for their friends and family, who had died to give them a better life.

"Come on," Muttered Harry, wiping the tears from his cheek. "This is why we are doing this. To bring them back." Everyone nodded and they finally finished the notes. Harry handed the great stack to Hermione.

"We should go to Hogwarts." Ron said quietly. The friends all nodded. Ginny kissed Harry goodbye and the trio apparated to Hogsmeade and walked up the path to Hogwarts, arm in arm. McGonagall wasn't in her office when they arrived but one of the portraits went to find her and she turned up about ten minutes later, looking grave.

"Are you ready Miss Granger?" Hermione nodded. She kissed Ron, took a deep breath and walked over to the time turner, clutching her notes tightly. She slipped the time turner on and got ready. As she turned it over the final time, there was a faint _pop_ and she was gone. The others stared at the spot where she had been standing.

"Good luck Hermione." They whispered together.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Marauders.

Everything was spinning around Hermione and she felt dizzy. This was much worse than an ordinary time turner which ended reasonably quickly. She clutched her notes tighter. Finally there was another faint 'pop' and she stood in Dumbledore's office again. Looking around she saw Dumbledore sitting behind his desk examining a strange silver instrument she had seen in his modern day desk. He looked up and stared at Hermione. She simply stared back. It had been so long since she had seen Dumbledore, alive. He hadn't changed much over the years, except his beard was a little shorter in this time and decidedly less sliver.

"Erm… Hello Professor." She said. He raised his eyebrows.

"Good morning Miss…"

"Granger Sir."

"Miss Granger. I do not recognise you. May I ask what brings you magically into my office?" His voice was incredibly calm.

"You see Sir, I'm from the future." She said, offering him the time turner. Surprise flashed across his face. He took the time turner and examined it.

"And why should I not believe that this is a trick of Lord Voldemort's?" His voice was still calm. Hermione thought desperately of something only Dumbledore would know.

"My best friend at Hogwarts is Harry Potter."

"Harry?" He asked sharply. "The boy isn't even a year old yet."

"I know, but in my time he is eighteen." Hermione said; thinking of him now and wishing he were here. He was still watching her over his half-moon spectacles. She felt very awkward. "The great war has just finished."

"It has? Only just?" Dumbledore now looked worried.

"But that's why I am here." Hermione said quickly. "To tell you our story so you can kill him sooner."

"You're story?"

"Mine, Harry's and Ron's. Of course there are plenty of other people involved, at Hogwarts and outside but most of what I have to say is our adventures." She tried to explain.

"Who sent you here?"

"Professor McGonagall. She told me to talk to you, James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin."

"No Mr Pettigrew?" Dumbledore asked. Hermione flushed.

"No." She mumbled. "That's part of the story. I can't explain things out of order. It will lead to more questions and confuse everything. So much of it is interlinked it would just get too complicated." Hermione sighed, shifting the enormous stack of papers to the other arm.

"What are those?" Dumbledore asked.

"My notes. I didn't think I would remember everything, and some of it I wasn't there to see or hear anyway. A lot of this is Harry's notes. Anything and Everything happened to him." She sighed.

"I'm intrigued. For now Miss Granger, I see no reason not to trust you. You know of Harry and seemingly his parents. I will make contact with them." Then he cast a patronus and sent it away. Then he put the tips of his long fingers together and watched Hermione.

She suddenly thought of something. "Do you have James' invisibility cloak?"

"Why would I have Mr Potter's cloak?" Dumbledore asked in surprise.

"I can't explain that yet, but I just know you have it at some point soon." Hermione looked sheepish.

"You know of the cloak?"

"Yeah, Harry sneaks around with it all the time." She grinned.

"Like father, like son I suppose." Dumbledore sighed, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. Just then a beautiful doe came gliding into the room and spoke, in what Hermione presumed, was Lily Potter's voice.

"Of course Albus, come right over." Dumbledore stood up and walked to the fireplace. Then he offered the pot of floo powder to Hermione. She took it and walked into the fire.

"The Potter's house." She called clearly and threw the floo powder. The warm flames rose around her as she spun around and around. Suddenly it was over and Hermione was stumbling into a pleasant front room. She staggered slightly and fell into a tall figure, right in front of her.

"Sorry." She said, straightening up.

"Don't worry." Said the man. She looked up, and gasped. The man looked exactly like Harry. The same jet black, untidy hair; the same face. Except, this man's eyes were hazel. He looked at her eyebrows raised. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Hermione Granger." She breathed.

"Welcome to the Potter household Miss Granger." He grinned impishly.

"Hermione, please. You must be James." He looked at her in surprise.

"How'd you know?"

"Can I explain when Dumbledore gets here?" James nodded. When he stood back, Hermione could see the room and the first thin she was a baby, sitting in front of the sofa, playing with a toy snitch. He had tufts of black hair and paid her no attention. She giggled. It was just so weird seeing Harry that young. James was looking at her like she was crazy.

"Hey Padfoot, Moony." He called. "We got company." Just then Dumbledore came spinning out of the fireplace and brushed the soot off of his shoulders.

"Well now, is everybody here Mr Potter?" James nodded. Then a pretty, red headed woman came in, it was clearly Lily. Behind her came a good-looking young man, His black hair was almost as messy as James'. A big smile was plastered on his face, which was fuller, and had much more colour than the last time Hermione had seen him. Sirius grinned at her. Lastly, in came Remus. He had a good deal less grey in his hair, and less scars on his face and arms. His smile was much more genuine.

Hermione had to stop herself crying out to him. Having lost him so recently, and helping Harry care for his child, had meant she felt closer to him than the others. He gave her a polite smile and took a seat on the sofa beside James.

"Well, what's going on Dumbledore?" Sirius asked.

"That, I'm afraid, can only be properly explained by Miss Granger here." He said, gesturing at Hermione, who blushed as everyone's gaze turned to her.

"Well…" She began. "I'm Hermione Granger. From eighteen years in the future." Everyone gaped at her. "And Harry Potter," She added, smiling at the baby on the floor, "Is my best friend."

"The boy has good taste." Winked Sirius. Hermione went the colour of beetroot.

"Shut up Padfoot." James said with exasperation. He was used to his friend's constant flirtation. "That's my son's friend you are talking to." He grinned.

"Well, in my time the second great war has just finished. Voldemort is dead." Everyone cheered except Dumbledore and Lily.

"The second?" Lily asked.

"Yes. Voldemort vanished for ten years. But he came back. And we only just defeated him for good. But so many people died. It was horrible. The Ministry made a new, more powerful time turner so I could come back and kill him sooner."

"Why you?" Remus asked.

"Because I was central to the whole story. Harry would have come himself but we thought it would be easier if it wasn't someone quite so personal to talk to you. And he has greater difficulty recalling the events." She said in a sad voice. James and Lily looked worried. What happened to their son?

"Why?" James asked, in a tone that suggested he didn't want to know.

"That will be explained as we go along. So, I came back to tell you about myself, Harry and our other friend Ron Weasley. How we learnt everything and finally killed Voldemort. So we decided, to not confuse everything, to give you our whole story from our first year at Hogwarts." She glanced around at the group nervously. "I must warn you, some of this is going to be very hard to hear."

"Just tell us whatever you have to Hermione." Lily said in a serious voice.

"Then hopefully, we can kill Voldemort in this time and a lot of people will be alive again." Hermione finished. Everyone gave her a determined smile. Hermione's smile suddenly vanished.

"What is it Hermione?" Remus asked in a kind voice.

"Well," She began in a shaky voice. "When our story starts James and Lily have been killed by Voldemort." There was a collective gasp. Lily's hand flew over her mouth. James wrapped an arm around her and held her close. He then picked up Harry in his free arm. The three of them were cradled together.

"But Harry survives. How?" He asked in a strained tone.

"Well, that gets explained later, but he does live. He ended up with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. His trademark." She gave a hollow laugh.

"So he stays with me right?" Sirius asked.

"Erm…no."

"What? Why not? I'm his godfather."

"Dumbledore takes him to the Dursley's." Hermione said in a small voice.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Yelled James. He had met Petunia's sister and her husband only once before. They were not pleasant people.

"I don't know Mr Potter. I haven't done it yet." Dumbledore said calmly.

"You gave my godson to a bunch of good for nothing muggles." Cried Sirius.

"There is an explanation." Hermione interjected. "Not that I can explain now, but there is, I promise. If I tell you now, it will confuse the story and you will only ask more questions. Everything has to be explained in order." They all looked at her. She drew out her notes of their first year and they all watched expectantly.

(Please review guys. I wana know what you think)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Philospher's stone part one.

"Well, Voldemort came to Godric's Hollow to kill the Potter family, but after his parent died defending him," Hermione began, looking awkwardly at Lily, who was silently shaking in James' arms.

"Carry on Hermione." Sirius said.

"Harry somehow survived. The curse destroyed Voldemort instead. Everyone thought that he was finally gone and so Harry was now a hero in the wizarding world."

"Atta boy." Smiled Sirius, ruffling the baby's hair.

"Hagrid collected Harry from the house and took him to Privet Drive, to the Dursleys."

James scowled and even Lily looked worried. They were heartbroken to learn that their son had to grow up with such people. Even more so that he had to grow up without them.

"Dumbledore left him there with a letter saying it would be better for Harry to grow up away from the world where he was famous before he could walk and talk."

"A letter? You think my sister would read a letter from a wizard and care." Lily snorted. "She hates us."

"So anyway, Harry grew up there. He didn't have a particularly great time." Hermione said. There really was no way to say this nicely. "His bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. And…"

"His what?" Yelped James. "They didn't even give my son a proper room." The Marauders and Lily were looking outraged. Baby Harry just giggled.

"On his cousin Dudley's birthday they were forced to take Harry with them when they went to the zoo for the day." Hermione continued.

"What do you mean, they were forced to take Harry?" Lily asked dangerously. All the boys quickly moved away afraid she would start hexing things.

"Apparently Harry used to stay at his neighbour's. Mrs Figg or something."

"Arabella Figg?" Asked Dumbledore curiously. Hermione nodded.

"Anyway she had broken her leg and so couldn't look after him. They refused to leave him home alone afraid he would burn it down or something." James and Sirius snorted. "So they had to take him. Anyway, while they were at the zoo Harry started talking to a Boa Constrictor." Everybody stared at her.

"He is a parselmouth?" Whispered Remus. Hermione nodded again.

"And then Dudley punched him and Harry magically vanished the glass, setting the snake free. Dudley's friend told Harry's uncle Vernon that he had seen Harry talking to the snake and Harry got in loads of trouble."

"But why?" Remus asked.

"Because the Dursleys hated anything magical, Harry got into trouble whenever he did something like that even if he couldn't control it." Hermione explained. "So after that Harry's letter from Hogwarts came."

James and Lily exchanged smiles. They were delighted their son would finally get to go somewhere nice and make friends.

"But he made the mistake of trying to open it in front of his uncle, who took it off him. Of course Hogwarts tried again but his uncle kept making sure he didn't get his letter."

"How dare they." Spluttered Sirius, looking down fondly at his godson.

"So in the end his uncle went mad and took them to an old lighthouse in a storm to make sure they couldn't be found. Until Hagrid arrived."

All the marauders grinned. "Get 'em Hagrid." Cheered James.

"Being Hagrid, he broke the door down and came in, casually sitting down like nothing was the matter, asking Harry to make him a cup of tea. Harry's aunt and uncle came downstairs with a rifle. Then Hagrid told Harry something that he would hear for the rest of his life."

Everyone looked at her expectantly. She glanced at baby Harry.

"He said, you look just like your father, but you have your mother's eyes. I think every single person who knew you, commented on this to Harry."

James and Lily just beamed.

"At least he got my good looks." James grinned.

"Are you saying I'm not good looking?" Lily glared at him. He cowered under her gaze.

"Not at all Lily Flower," He started, his gaze dropping warily to her wand. "Just that if he got your beautiful eyes I want him to look like me." Remus and Sirius were howling with laughter. Lily's expression softened into a grin as she watched her husband blabbering on. Hermione cracked a smile and then carried on with her story.

"Well, Hagrid gave him his first birthday cake."

"HIs first?" James said angrily. "But he is 11."

"The Dursleys didn't celebrate Harry's birthday." Hermione answered sadly.

"They didn't even celebrate it? No cake or presents or anything?" Remus asked quietly. Hermione shook her head.

"But what about me and Remus, we must have dropped by to give him something." Sirius said, grasping at straws for his poor godson. Hermione shook her head again.

"What?" James looked angrily at his friends.

"I may have had something to do with that." Dumbledore put in before an argument could erupt. "If young Harry was there to grow up away from wizards, it is possible that I did not let them see him." Hermione realised Dumbledore was merely trying to avoid an argument between the friends. All of whom were now glaring at him.

"Anyway, so the Dursleys hadn't told Harry anything about magic or Hogwarts, so Hagrid gave Harry his Hogwarts letter and started to tell him about it. And then Harry realised his aunt had known what he was and hadn't told him," Hermione look warily at Lily. "They also hadn't told him how you two really died."

"What did they tell my son?" Lily asked, her emerald eyes blazing. She was going to have more than a few choice words for Tuney when she next saw her sister.

"They told him you died in a car crash." Hermione said in a small voice.

"The bastards did what?" Sirius said looking outraged.

"Sirius Black, mind your language in front of my son." Lily snapped at him. Everyone was looking furious. Baby Harry seemed to have taken in everyone's mood and started to cry. Lily bumped him up and down on her knee gently, motioning for Hermione to carry on.

"Harry told Hagrid he had made a mistake and that Harry couldn't be a wizard."

James looked sadly at his son. "You will be the best." He whispered.

"So Hagrid pointed out that Harry had done things he couldn't explain before, and that it was magic. Then his uncle tried to say he couldn't go and they wouldn't pay for him."

"They wouldn't need to. We would have left him something." James said instantly.

"You did. Anyway, Harry's uncle then insulted Professor Dumbledore."

Sirius let out his bark of laughter. "Bad mistake there Vernon." Dumbledore smiled at Hagrid's loyalty.

"Anyway, Hagrid gave Dudley a pigtail." Hermione said with a grin.

The marauders all fell about laughing. James actually started choking. Dumbledore looked half amused and half stern. Lily was frowning, she didn't like the sound of her nephew at all but that was no reason to use magic on him when he couldn't defend himself.

"The next morning Hagrid took Harry to Diagon Alley. Explaining that his parents had left him some money. They had to use muggle transport and needless to say Hagrid caused a bit of a stir. Anyway, he took Harry to the Leaky Cauldron."

"Tom never did like me." Sirius commented.

"Wonder why." Smirked Lily.

"The innkeeper recognised Harry and shouted for the whole pub to hear who he was. So he got introduced to plenty of random wizards and witches he didn't know, who all seemed to know all about him. The poor boy was very confused. Then he ran into Professor Quirrell. He was the DADA teacher that year. Had a really bad stutter and a turban. After all the introductions, Hagrid took Harry through to Diagon Alley."

Lily smiled sadly. She wanted to be the one to take Harry on his first trip there. Be the one who saw the excitement on his little face and be telling him all about Hogwarts. Her own adventures with his idiotic father. She looked at her husband and saw the same kind of sad smile on his face. She took his hand on her free one, her other hand still holding Harry. She hoped that her son's first year at Hogwarts would be wonderful. But then again, if this was important enough to help with fighting Voldemort, she doubted it would be.

"They went to Gringotts, Hagrid had they key to your vault, and got Harry some money. They also stopped at vault 713."

Dumbledore looked up in surprise. That was his vault. Why would Hagrid and Harry be visiting there.

"Where Hagrid retrieved a small package. And then they went shopping. In the robe shop, Harry met Draco Malfoy."

"Lucius Malfoy's spawn?" James asked. Dumbledore frowned but didn't comment. Hermione nodded.

"No, little prongslet, no making friends with death eater children." Sirius told the baby firmly.

"He didn't." Hermione chuckled. "He asked Harry about which house he would be in and Harry heard about Quidditch for the first time. So he asked Hagrid, who explained how to play, what the houses were. Then they had to buy spellbook. Apparently Hagrid had to drag Harry away from '**Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch your friends and Befuddle your enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much much more.)**"

"James bought me that book one christmas." Sirius grinned. Lily just rolled her eyes.

"Why am I not surprised." She groaned.

"Then he finally got to get a wand." Lily and James brightened.

"Olivander creeps me out. He is a genius, but creepy." Remus said with a shudder. Everyone nodded except Dumbledore.

"His wand was Holly and Phoenix feather. He said Voldemort's wand was it's brother."

Dumbledore sat straight up, a satisfied smile on his face.

"What does that mean?" James asked him.

"When two wands are brothers it means their cores came from the same creature. Not just same type, but the exact same, Phoenix in this case. When this happens the wands will not fight properly. It means, should Harry ever meet Voldemort, he has a little protection in a duel." They all nodded.

"When they left, Hagrid bought Harry an owl, Hedwig, for his birthday." Hermione smiled.

"Aww, that's so sweet of him." Lily exclaimed, thinking they would have to find a way to thank Hagrid for taking such good care of her son.

"Once they were done shopping, Hagrid put him on the train back to the Dursley's. Where Harry spent the rest of summer reading his school books."

The marauders groaned, while Lily and Dumbledore smiled.

"And counting down the days until he could go to Hogwarts. The Dursley's did give him a lift to the train station but left him there to find the platform."

"They left my son alone in the middle of London?" James yelled. Remus and Sirius both looked equally appalled and angry. Lily stared at Hermione both angry and sad. She couldn't believe that her sister had hated her so much that she would leave an eleven year old boy alone in London, without any means to get home.

"Harry overheard the Weasley's talking about muggles, which Hagrid had explained to him, and asked them how to get onto the platform. Ron, their youngest son was starting as well that year. The Weasley twins, a couple of years older than us and not unlike a certain Mr Potter and Mr Black," Hermione said winking at the pair of them. "Tried to confuse Mrs Weasley by mixing up their names and running through the barrier.

"Excellent. The twins are already causing trouble for poor Molly." Remus chuckled. Hermione smiled at the idea of young twins.

"So Harry got on the train and one of the twins recognised him by his scar, which had become legendary, and told the rest of the family. Ron's younger sister Ginny became quite a fan."

"A fan before the train even moves." Sirius grinned. "He beats your record prongs."

James beamed. "That's my boy."

"Honestly. I hope he isn't as big-headed as his father." Lily rolled her eyes. James stopped grinning and pouted.

"Ron's brother, Percy, was a prefect. As they left, Fred and George promised to send Ginny a Hogwarts toilet seat." Hermione giggled. Everyone laughed except Lily, who looked exasperated, and Sirius, who was staring at Hermione. Her giggle was fascinating. He shook his head and joined in the laughter.

"Great present." James chuckled.

"Anyway, Ron came and sat with Harry, awkwardly asking about his scar and if the rumours were true. They talked about family. Ron's brother Bill had been head boy, Charlie had been quidditch captain." There were cheers from Sirius and James at this. "Percy was a prefect and Ron felt like the least important because all his brothers had accomplished plenty and he hadn't. Harry bought almost the entire lunch trolley." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"But it;s just full of sweets." Lily frowned.

"That is truly my son." James grinned broadly.

"He had better share." Lily said.

"He did." Hermione assured her. Lily's expression cleared slightly. "Harry got a Dumbledore chocolate frog card and found out magical pictures move." Dumbledore chuckled slightly. "While they were talking I walked in." Hermione blushed as she remembered their first meeting. "We got off on the wrong foot and I was being a little bossy and overbearing. I had memorised all of our school books and read a few extra." She admitted. All the boys rolled their eyes at her, except Remus, who smiled. Lily gave her an approving grin.

"Aww, we have a miniature Harry and a miniature Lily walking around." Sirius grinned.

"Shut up Sirius." Lily glared at him.

"Anyway, I left and then Draco Malfoy walked in."

"Oh great." Sirius muttered, avoiding Hermione's eye.

"He started taking the mickey out of the Weasley family and offered to be friends with Harry."

"No little prongslet. No friends with such scumbags." Sirius said.

"Sirius!" Lily scolded.

"Harry said no and then Malfoy said he had '**better be a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents.'**"

"He did not." Thundered James. Lily looked shocked that anyone could be quite so horrible.

"Ron's rat, Scabbers." Hermione said the name with distaste. "Bit Goyle, one of Malfoy's cronies, and they left. When we got to Hogwart's we were greeted by Hagrid. He took us over the lake by boat and up to the front doors."

At that moment, little Harry started crying.

"I'm going to put him down for a nap." Lily said. "Shall we all take a break." Everyone nodded.

"Hurry back Lily Flower, we need food." Sirius called, grinning.

"Eat at your own house." She called back.

"We should ban you from eating here." James grinned.

"But then we would starve and you wouldn't want your friend's deaths on your conscious would you?" Remus asked with a chuckle.

"I suppose not." James gave a huge fake sigh.

"So Minny, what's life like after Voldemort?" Sirius turned to Hermione.

"Minny?" She raised her eyebrow at him. He just shrugged. "It's good. Scarily peaceful. After years of being friends with Harry Potter, you don't get a lot of peace." She smiled wryly. They all laughed.

"I must attend to the school. If I am not back, start without me." Dumbledore said. He rose fluidly and used the floo powder to disappear back to Hogwarts.

"Does Harry have a girlfriend?" James asked with a grin.

"Yep." Hermione grinned back.

"Oooh, who?" Remus asked.

"Now that would spoil the surprise." Hermione winked.

"Awww, Minnie." Sirius groaned.

"It's ok. You only have to wait until our sixth year." She told him, pretending to comfort him.

"It takes him six years to get a girlfriend?" James gasped.

"No, five. But he broke up with one and stayed with his other girlfriend." Hermione said.

"Little pronglet, I'm disappointed. Five years to get a girl." Sirius said, shaking his head. Hermione chuckled. James got up and went into the kitchen.

"I'm going hunting." He called over his shoulder.

"James Potter get out of my kitchen!" Came a yell from upstairs. The boys all roared with laughter.

"Banned from his own kitchen." Remus pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. Hermione got up and followed James to the kitchen.

"Hey," She said.

"Hi there." He reminded her so much of Harry. Except more carefree and happy.

"Harry gave me a note for you and Lily." She said, handing him a small piece of parchment. James looked at it and took it carefully.

"Thanks." He said and Hermione went back to the others. James opened the letter.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I spent years wishing I could have a chance to talk to you, know if you were proud of me. But now I have the chance to say something, I don't know what to write. Please know that I love you both so much. I wish it could be me there, telling you this story, but some parts are just better of being told by Hermione. I hope you both are proud of me, although I have done some things I am not terribly proud of. Mum, please don't be too mad at how many school rules I break during my time there. I know it's not a happy story in all places but please do try to enjoy the bits that are._

_Love you, always_

_Harry._

James read it through once more, wiping a tear from his eye. He chuckled at the idea his son was asking Lily not to be mad for breaking rules.

"I will always be proud of you, son." James whispered. Lily came in at that moment and saw him crying.

"James, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing, love. Just read this." He handed her the letter. She read it quickly and her eyes shone with tears too.

"Our baby boy." She whispered. She glanced down again. "Breaking rules, like father, like son." She sighed. They just enjoyed the moment of being together. Determined to change the world so they could be there while Harry grew up and make sure he never had to live through everything that was to come.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Philosopher's stone part 2

James and Lily stood in each other's arms in the kitchen. Finally Lily moved away and started fixing some food for the hungry boys that waited in the front room.

Hermione was sitting in an armchair grinning as Sirius and Remus played exploding snap. It had already blown up in Sirius' face twice, but the silencing charm around the room meant that the cards didn't wake the sleeping Harry.

"So what house did you sorted into Minny?" Sirius asked.

"Gryffindor. Although the hat did consider putting my in Ravenclaw." Remus smiled at her.

"No surprises there." Sirius grinned. Hermione blushed. It was strange seeing him this carefree and lively. He also didn't have the gaunt, unkempt look that Azkaban had given him. "Have I got something on my face?" Sirius added. Hermione realised she had been staring.

"Yep." She said to cover the moment. "A giant spot, right…" She tapped his face with her wand. "There." Sirius jerked backwards, knocking over the cards which exploded and Remus fell off his chair, laughing.

"What are you buffoons doing?" Asked James as he came into the room. He saw Sirius on the floor with a huge spot on his nose, in a pile of exploded cards, Hermione and Remus laughing their heads off. He burst out laughing and sat down on the spot Remus had just vacated. "That's a good look Padfoot." He grinned.

"Shut up Prongs." Sirius growled trying to remove the spot. He had no luck. "Minny, get this off me." He complained.

"But you so look good." She giggled. Sirius watched her giggling in the chair for a second and started chuckling himself. Finally Hermione calmed down enough to use the Counter charm and get rid of it. Sirius dashed to the mirror to check that she had really got rid of it. While he was gone, Lily came in with the food. James and Remus made straight for her.

"Ladies first." She said, offering the plate of sandwiches to Hermione. "If you want anything take it now, those three don't ever stop eating." Hermione laughed, reminded of Ron, and took a sandwich. Lily took one herself and left the plate to the boys. By the time Sirius came back most of it was gone.

"You started without me." He griped.

"Well we wouldn't have done if you weren't so vain." James grinned.

"Hypocrite." Lily muttered.

When everyone had finished, they sat back down and looked expectantly at Hermione.

"So, we had just arrived at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall gave us the speech about our houses being like family and told us about each house. Ron was being stupid and telling Harry that his brother had said there was a test. Wrestling a troll I think Fred told him."

The marauders burst out laughing. "Don't tell me Ron believed him?" Remus said, shaking his head.

"I think he did."

"Wow. Even I knew that wouldn't happen." Lily said with a smile.

"Yeah Snivellus told you what happened." Sirius sighed.

"He didn't know either." Lily snapped.

"The ghosts gave us a bit of a fright when they first came through the wall." Hermione started again to avoid argument. "McGonagall came back to take us to the sorting. The hat did it's song and we got sorted. I got put in Gryffindor." Hermione smiled. Everyone cheered. "Then it was Harry's turn. The hat told him he would do well in Slytherin."

"What?" Yelped James. "My son would not do well in that bunch of scumbags."

"James!" Lily said. "They aren't all bad." She said. Or they weren't always bad, she added in her head sadly. Sirius snorted.

"Anyway, in the end Harry said he didn't want to be in Slytherin and the hat put him in Gryffindor."

They boys all cheered.

"The hat let him choose?" Lily asked, wide-eyed.

"Our little Prongslet is special." Sirius grinned.

"Of course he is." James beamed proudly.

"Then Ron got put in Gryffindor too. He wasn't too happy that I was because he thought I was bossy and a know it all." Hermione grinned.

"And were you?" Remus asked with a grin.

"Maybe a little bit." Hermione confessed, blushing slightly. "Anyway, Dumbledore's start of term speech was '**Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!' **So we all thought he was mental."

The boy and Lily all laughed at this.

"He is off his rocker. A genius but mental." James chuckled.

"The food was amazing, and we met Nearly Headless Nick. That was fun. During dinner Harry had been looking at the teachers and when he looked at Professor Snape."

James and Sirius spluttered and looked horrified. "That it became a teacher." James managed to say.

"No need to call him a git." Lily sighed.

"But he is." Sirius said.

"And Harry's scar hurt." Hermione continued.

"What did he do to him?" James scowled.

"His scar hurt?" Asked Remus at the same time.

"Yes, Harry's scar hurt when Voldemort was close by or feeling strong emotion." Hermione explained.

"But Voldemort was supposed to have gone." Sirius said, looking confused.

"He came back you moron." Lily said in exasperation.

"Oh."

"Why when he looked at Severus?" Asked Remus.

"That is explained later."

"Minny!" Groaned Sirius.

"Once we finished eating Dumbledore gave his warnings. No Forbidden Forest and such like. Then he said the third floor corridor was out of bounds."

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"We sang the Hogwarts song, and went off to bed. The next day, Harry was haunted by people staring and whispering. The famous Potter finally in the wizarding world. Our lessons were really interesting. Until we got to potions. Snape hated Harry with a passion."

"That slimy git." Sirius growled. James was furious that Snape took out his hatred of James, on his son.

"How dare he. Our argument is between us, my son is not involved." James spat. Hermione looked at him sadly. She couldn't explain that it was also the fact that Harry was James' son with Lily.

Lily just stared sadly at the ground. She had hoped her friendship with Severus meant more than that. Harry was her son too.

"Hagrid invited Harry to come down to his hut for tea that day, so he did have something to look forward too. But when we arrived Snape started talking about '**Our new celebrity.' **And asked him questions that we didn't learn until second and third year."

"Talk about abusing his power." Remus said in disgust. "Trying to show Harry up."

"I'm going to have a few words with dear old Snivellus." James scowled.

"No James, he hasn't done anything yet." Lily said.

"Later that lesson, our friend Neville managed to melt his cauldron and Snape took a point off Harry for not telling Neville to add porcupine quills."

"But that's not Harry's fault." Sirius growled again, sounding more like a dog than ever.

"So after that lesson the boys went down to Hagrid's. They met his boarhound Fang, who is one of the softest dogs ever. Though he has a very loud bark. They had Hagrid's rock cakes."

All the boys winced.

"They learnt the hard way not to eat at Hagrid's then." Chuckled Remus.

"Yes, we do avoid eating where possible." Hermione grinned.

"We did too." Sirius smiled at her.

"Ron was talking to Hagrid about his older brother Charlie who works with dragons in Romania, while Harry read a news article that was on the table. It was about a Gringotts break-in."

Everyone gasped.

"How is that even possible?" Lily whispered.

"Dark magic." Hermione said.

"But even so, that has to be nearly impossible." James was gazing at her, wide-eyed.

"Yes, the person wasn't even caught." Hermione carried on. "But nothing was stolen, the vault had been emptied earlier that day."

"The package that Hagrid picked up." Sirius suddenly said.

"What?" James asked.

"Hagrid emptied a vault with Harry, a small package. That is probably what they were after." He explained. Hermione beamed at him and he knew he had it right. Not that it seemed important when she smiled like that. He shook his head and motioned for her to carry on.

"Harry questioned Hagrid but got nothing out of him. Although Hagrid's suspicious behaviour tipped Harry off that it was indeed what Sirius said, stolen from the vault he had been to."

Sirius smirked. "See, I am smart."

"It's a miracle." Lily grinned.

"Hey!"

"Padfoot, she didn't deny you were smart. From Lily that's the best compliment you are going to get." James laughed.

"Next, was our flying lesson, with the Slytherins." Hermione said.

"Flying? Awesome." James grinned.

"Everyone was talking about flying, and, well, I tried to learn how to fly by reading." Hermione blushed.

They boys all laughed but Lily gave her a sympathetic smile, having tried to do something similar herself.

"At breakfast our friend Neville Longbottom got sent a remembrall, but Malfoy came over and nicked it."

"Slimy, little…" Sirius scowled.

"But Professor McGonagall came over and he gave it back. Then we went to flying. She made us hold our hand over the broom and say 'up'. Harry's jumped straight into his hand."

"That's my boy." Beamed James.

"However, Neville took off too early and fell off his broom. Madam Hooch had to take him to the hospital wing. So naturally, Malfoy stared making fun of him and picked up the remembrall Neville had dropped. Harry jumped in and told Malfoy to give it to him. Obviously Malfoy didn't and he flew off with it."

"Oh no." Sighed Lily, guessing what happened next.

"So Harry jumps on his broom and flies off after Malfoy."

"But, that was his first time on a broom." Gasped Remus. Hermione nodded.

"Anyway, he told Malfoy to give it to him but Malfoy threw it into the air. Harry dived fifty feet, pulled up a few feet from the ground, unhurt, and caught the remembrall."

James and Sirius looked astounded.

"My son is a genius." Whispered James.

"Seeker material for sure." Sirius grinned. "He has to try out in second year." Hermione just grinned.

"So Professor McGonagall came out and yelled at Harry to follow her."

"He can't be in trouble for that. Malfoy was being a git." James moaned.

"He did break the rules." Lily said with a sigh.

"McGonagall took him to Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor quidditch captain, and told him she had found him a new seeker."

"What?" Gasped James. "First year?"

"Yep, Harry became the youngest seeker in a century." Hermione beamed. Everyone stared at her.

"Atta boy." Roared Sirius.

"Brilliant son." Yelled James. The two did a kind of dance round the middle of the room. When they had finally calmed down, Hermione continued.

"So Harry was telling Ron at dinner, his brothers came to congratulate Harry. The Weasley twins were the team beaters. Anyway, Malfoy came over, annoyed that Harry had got the better of him, offered him a wizards duel. Which Ron accepted for him, saying he was Harry's second."

"Stupid Weasley." Remus groaned.

"I came over and told them they shouldn't go."

"Good." Lily said.

"If they are anything like James, they will go anyway." Remus sighed.

"Yep." Said Hermione. "I caught them trying to sneak out that night. I tried to make them come back but when we were out of the portrait hole, The Fat Lady had run off.I was stuck outside with the boys."

"Like father, like son." Lily rolled her eyes. "I can't believe Harry was stupid enough to do this."

"We can't believe you were stupid enough to marry Prongs." Sirius grinned, Lily looked over at James.

"Me either." She agreed with a grin.

"Hey!" James pouted.

"As we went down the corridor we ran into Neville who had forgotten the password, so he was stuck as well. All four of us snuck up to where the duel was supposed to be. Nobody was there."

"A setup." Sirius groaned.

"Yes." Hermione sighed. "Soon we heard Filch coming. The caretaker." She added. "So we ran, no idea where we were going. Just as far away from Filch as possible. Ron and Neville fell into a suit of armour, so we ran some more. Until we met Peeves."

"Oh no!" James and Lily gasped together.

"So Ron was rude to him."

"Idiot!" They all exclaimed.

"Peeves yelled that where we were. So we ran again, coming to a locked door. The boys were all gasping and talking about doom, so I magically opened the door."

"Good for you Minny." Lily said.

"Unfortunately, the door was locked for a reason."

"The third floor corridor?" Groaned Remus. Hermione nodded.

"There was a giant three headed dog there."

"Cool." Grinned Sirius.

"Not cool Black, my son is there." Lily glowered at him.

"Well if he has another six years at Hogwarts, I guessed he survives this. I want to know why there is a three headed dog in Hogwarts."

"Guarding that package." Remus said, thoughtfully.

"Anyway, needless to say, we got out of there sharpish. Thankfully we made it back to Gryffindor tower and the Fat Lady was back. We all got in and the boys were asking why it was in the school. So I told them it had been standing on a trapdoor and was guarding something. Then I said '**We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled.'"**

"Really Minny?" James asked, eyebrows raised. Hermione blushed.

"Yeah, Ron said I needed to sort out my priorities."

"He wasn't wrong." Chuckled Sirius. Even Lily was shaking her head, amused.

Suddenly there was a faint 'pop' and Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace.

"Have I missed much?" He asked, taking a seat.

"Harry got made youngest Hogwarts seeker in a century." James said immediately.

"In his first year? Impressive. I wonder how Professor McGonagall got me to agree." Dumbledore smiled.

"There is a three headed dog in Hogwarts." Remus said. Dumbledore stared. "It's guarding that package from Gringotts we think."

"Possible." Dumbledore thought about what was in the vault.

"So next morning, Malfoy was surprised to see Harry and Ron at breakfast."

"Git." Muttered Sirius. Hermione grinned.

"And Harry got a package at breakfast. A note telling him it was his new broomstick. Nimbus 2001."

"A Nimbus?" James looked awestruck. "They are the best."

"It was the best broom out." Hermione smiled.

"Wicked." Everyone exclaimed.

"As they went upstairs, Malfoy saw them and tried to report them to Professor Flitwick, who already knew Harry would have one so Malfoy was horrified. Later that day, Harry went out with Oliver Wood to learn the rules. They practised with golf balls and Harry didn't miss a single one."

James looked impressed. He had missed only one himself. He was beside himself thinking his son would be even better than James himself.

"One day we were having a charms lesson on levitation. Ron was doing it wrong so I corrected him. He didn't like that and said I should do it if I was so clever."

"How rude!" Lily said.

"So I did it." Hermione grinned.

"Good for you Hermione." Lily smiled.

"After the lesson I overheard Ron saying to Harry it's no wonder nobody can stand her, she's a nightmare."

"How dare he." Sirius growled.

"It's ok Sirius. Anyway, I went to the girl's bathroom and cried. Meanwhile at the Halloween feast."

"He made you so upset, you missed the Halloween feast?" Gaped Sirius, who couldn't stand the idea of missing food.

"Yes, anyway, during the feast Professor Quirrell came running in saying there was a troll in the dungeons."

"What?" Exclaimed Dumbledore sharply.

"How on Earth did a troll get in? It must have been let in." Remus said thoughtfully.

"So all the kids were sent back to their dormitories, the Slytherins went to the library. Harry and Ron were heading back when they suddenly remembered me. So, being idiotic heros, they came to find and warn me. They saw Professor Snape heading for the third floor."

"What? Why wasn't he with the other teachers looking for the troll?" Sirius asked suspiciously

"Looking for a way to get past the dog?" Suggested James. Lily looked sadly at the floor. She really hoped Severus wasn't going after that package.

"They found the troll and locked it in a room."

"It was the girls bathroom wasn't it?" Lily sighed. Hermione nodded.

"They heard me scream and so came running back. They threw stuff and shouted at it. Finally Harry jumped on it, his wand went up its nose."

"Eww." Exclaimed everyone. "That's disgusting." Added Lily.

"Ron levitated the troll's club and hit the troll on the head with it, knocking it out. Just then the teachers all came in. I was so grateful that they had saved me, I lied to get them out of trouble."

"You didn't get in trouble for running off and fighting a troll?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"No. Well I lost five points but the boys got five each, so technically we got rewarded."

"What?" James asked. "If Sirius and I had done that for Lily, we would have had detention. And he got rewarded for flying when he shouldn't. That kid is so damn lucky."

"Well, he needed all the luck he could get." Hermione said sadly. "So Harry, Ron and I became friends. One day Harry had Quidditch through the Ages outside and Professor Snape came over. He told Harry library books weren't allowed outside and confiscated it.

"What?" Yelled both Lily and James.

"That's not a rule." Sirius scowled.

"Abusing his power." Remus said in disgust.

"Later that day, Harry went to get it back and saw Snape in the staff room with Filch, bandaging Snape's leg. He had been bitten by the three headed dog.

"He was trying to get past it?" Sirius asked. Liking Snape less and less every minute.

"And now," She said looking at James and Sirius."It's time for Harry's first Quidditch match."

They erupted in cheers.

"Against Slytherin. The game was going well until Harry saw the snitch. He was beating the other seeker, until the Slytherin captain deliberately blocked him."

"That git!" Roared James.

"A little while later, Harry's broom started bucking and flying on its own."

"That's impossible." James frowned.

"It was being cursed." Remus said. "It has to have been."

"Well, I looked over at the staff and saw Snape muttering under his breath, his eyes fixed on Harry."

"No way!" Lily exclaimed. "He wouldn't."

"He better not have." Growled James. "Or I'm going to kill him."

"So I ran over," Continued Hermione. "And I knocked over Professor Quirrell accidentally. I finally reached Snape and set fire to his robes."

Dumbledore looked slightly disapproving, but the marauders all laughed.

"When he was distracted, I put the fire in a little jar and ran back to my seat. Just in time to see Harry on the pitch, he landed safely, and he coughed up the snitch. He caught it with his mouth." Hermione laughed.

"I love this kid." Sirius chuckled.

"So we went after the game and were talking to Hagrid. He defended Snape and told us that the three headed dog was his."

"Of course." James rolled his eyes.

"And he had called it Fluffy."

"What? Hagrid is insane." Remus looked amused and incredulous.

"Yes he is." Hermione agreed, thinking of the blast ended screwts, Grawp and Aragog. "Hagrid also mentioned Nicholas Flamel."

Dumbledore suddenly realised what must be at Hogwarts. He became incredibly worried. If Voldemort did indeed get it then he would return.

"Malfoy was back to taunting Harry, because he was staying at Hogwarts for christmas." James and Lily looked miserable again. More reminders that they would not be there for their son. "Hagrid showed the two boys the Great Hall and was horrified to find out we were researching who NIcholas Flamel was."

"Of course you were." Sighed Lily. "Can't keep out of trouble."

"We were searching the library in all our spare time. On Christmas Harry woke up to a small pile of presents. Which he was surprised to have. He had expected nothing."

"Poor kid." Sirius thought miserably. Even when he had run away, the Potter family had given his christmas presents.

"He got some though. Ron had told his mum that Harry expected nothing, and she sent him a knitted jumper and some homemade fudge."

"Aww." Lily beamed. Thinking of how she would repay Molly for taking care of her child.

"Hagrid had given him a flute that he had made himself. The Dursley's gave him a fifty pence piece." Hermione continued. Lily snorted in disgust.

"He ended up giving it to Ron, who was fascinated. Last of all, he got sent a certain cloak." Hermione looked knowingly at James.

"He got.." James began. Hermione nodded. "Awesome!" He exclaimed. "But who sent it?"

"That, I think, was Dumbledore."

"Why did you have my cloak?" James asked.

"I don't know Mr Potter." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Christmas dinner was apparently very good. I had gone home for christmas so it was just Harry and the Weasleys. Mr and Mrs Weasley had gone to visit Charlie in Romania. That evening, Harry decided to try out his new cloak. He went to the restricted section of the library."

"Really son? Anywhere you like so you pick the library?" James said in disgust. "He is clearly your child." He added, grinning at Lily.

"He is going to the library to look for Flamel, so he is going to look for trouble. That makes him your son." She grinned back.

"Anyway, the book he picked yelled and gave him away to Filch. So Harry had to run. Hiding in a classroom, he found the Mirror of Erised. The inscription on the top read '**I show you not your face, but your hearts desire.**"

Dumbledore gave a sad smile.

"When Harry looked in the mirror, he saw a room full of people. Who all looked like him. The two directly behind him were James and Lily Potter." Hermione said sadly. Silent tears now traced down Lily's face.

James was dumbstruck. At eleven years old he would have seen becoming a Quidditch star or something. But his son saw his family because he had never known them. Knowing his family was his son's deepest desire. James put an arm around his wife, tears now rolling down his face too.

"Harry spent a long time looking in the mirror. Finally he went back to bed and the next morning he told Ron. They decided to go back. It took them ages to find it but when they did, Ron saw himself better than his brothers. Head boy, Quidditch captain, with the Quidditch cup."

James smiled sadly. That is a normal kids dream. He was devastated for his son.

"They made some noise, fighting over whose turn it was to look and they had to leave. Ron told Harry not to go back for the mirror. But he did. And he met Dumbledore. Dumbledore explained that it was showing Harry his heart's deepest desire, warning that people have been driven mad by it. He also said it would be moved the next day. Harry asked Dumbledore what he saw and Dumbledore told him he saw himself getting a pair of socks."

Everybody looked at Dumbledore, who was chuckling to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

"Well, after that Harry did not go looking for the mirror again." Hermione carried on.

"Good." Sighed Lily.

"The Professor was right, it's unhealthy." Remus said.

"Harry became very busy after that. When we all came back from Christmas Harry had Quidditch a ridiculous amounts of times a week and we were getting plenty of homework."

"Is it too much to hope for that he had a normal rest of the year?" Asked Lily. Hermione smiled and nodded.

"One Quidditch practice Wood told the team that Professor Snape would be refereeing the next match."

"Snape refereeing?" Sirius spat.

"He will be biased." James said indignantly.

"He possibly cursed your son at the last match and you are worried about him being biased?" Sirius asked him incredulously.

"If he wanted to curse Harry again he wouldn't do it by being a referee." Remus pointed out. "He is much less likely to be seen in the stands."

"Well we didn't think of that." Said Hermione. "We thought that Snape wanted to curse Harry. While we were discussing it Neville came hopping into the common room. Malfoy had put the Leg-Locker Curse on him by the Library."

"That foul little git." Sirius said.

"Don't like it when someone else is the bully, Black." Lily glared at him. He said nothing.

"I performed the counter curse and Harry gave him a chocolate frog to cheer him up, telling Neville he was worth twelve of Malfoy." Hermione smiled.

Lily beamed. "That's my boy."

"Good lad." Cheered Remus.

"Anyway, Neville gave Harry the chocolate frog card. Guess who was on the card? Professor Dumbledore. We found Nicholas Flamel. He was mentioned on the card as his partner in alchemy. So I ran off to get a book I had taken out for light reading."

"And was this book a few hundred pages thick?" Sirius asked innocently.

"Maybe." Hermione blushed. "How did you guess?"

"Lily did exactly the same thing." James grinned.

"So we found out that Flamel was '**the only known maker of the Philosopher's stone." **Hermione said.

"Oh no." Gasped Remus and Lily. James and Sirius just looked confused and Dumbledore looked both thoughtful and worried.

"So we carried on with school, Harry got more and more worried about the match. Ron and I had been practising the Leg-Locker Curse in case Professor Snape tried anything."

"That's my girl." Sirius roared. The he realised what he had said and blushed, looking away from Hermione. She just giggled. Lily looked both amused and disapproving.

"While we were in the stands, Malfoy came over and starting provoking Ron and Neville. I didn't hear, too focused on Harry. Ron told me that he was taunting him about being poor and Neville for being stupid. So they starting fighting. Neville and Ron were fighting Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Anyway, Harry caught the snitch after five minutes. I think that was a Hogwarts record."

"My son is a total genius." James crowed.

"Prongs, I love your son." Sirius cheered. Lily watched them with an amused expression.

"After the match, Harry saw Snape walking towards the forest so he decided to fly over and follow him."

"Of course he did." Groaned Lily.

"He heard Snape and Quirrell talking. Snape was asking is Quirrell knew how to get past Fluffy, threatening him. So Harry flew back to tell us. I became a bit busy planning for exams and trying to get the boys to revise. Seriously, they are terrible." Hermione groaned, remembering all her efforts when it was their O. .

"I don't envy you there." Lily said, remembering her own efforts to get her friends revising.

"One day we found Hagrid in the library. Ron starting yelling about the Philosopher's stone so Hagrid shut him up, telling us to go down to his hut later. Ron went to find out what Hagrid had been looking at and he had been in the dragons section."

"Dragons!" Exclaimed Lily. Even Dumbledore looked worried.

"Cool." Sirius said.

"It is not cool, Black. My son is probably going to get involved." Lily snapped at him.

"Oh." Sirius looked abashed.

"So we went down later, and lo behold he had a dragon egg in his fireplace. Anyway, we asked about the Philospher's stone and he didn't want to say anything. So I flattered him a little bit and he spilled out a lot." Hermione confessed, blushing.

"Nice one. If that fails get him drunk." James suggested with a grin. Hermione shuddered, remembering where Hagrid being drunk had gotten them that year.

"He told us the teachers that had put protection around the stone but then we got distracted by the dragon's egg. He said it was a Norwegian Ridgeback."

"They are really rare." Remus said, half apprehensive, half eager.

"Yes, so Hagrid told us. We were discussing the dragon the next day but Malfoy overheard us. During break we went back to Hagrid's and the dragon hatched. Hagrid was crazy about it. Named it Norbert. We found out later it was a girl. We took turns going to Hagrid's to convince him to get rid of it. Harry then thought of Ron's brother Charlie who works in Romania with dragons. He suggested we sent Norbert to him."

"Great idea Harry." Remus said, nodding in approval.

"We wrote to Charlie who agreed to take the dragon, but Ron got bitten. He went to Madam Pomfrey. Malfoy went to gloat and told her he wanted to borrow a book. Unfortunately that book had our letter from Charlie so Malfoy knew we were getting rid of the dragon."

"There goes your good luck." James groaned.

"Harry and I decided to carry out the plan. We used to cloak to take the dragon's crate up to the top of the Astronomy tower where we were going to meet Charlie's friends."

"That's a good plan, but I'm betting it doesn't go smoothly." Lily sighed.

"No, of course not. Anyway, as we were going upstairs, we saw Professor McGonagall with Malfoy. He was trying to tell her about us but she put him in detention, not believing him. We were delighted. We got up to the tower and got rid of Norbert. Then came the problem. Harry and I forgot the cloak. Flich caught us."

"Oh no." James and Sirius groaned.

"Flich took us to Professor McGonagall. To make things worse she had caught Neville who, bless him, was trying to warn us about Malfoy. She took fifty points from Gryffindor."

"What!" Yelped James. "She rarely ever took that many from us."

"Fifty each." Hermione said. James, Sirius and Remus gaped at her, open mouthed. Even Dumbledore looks astonished.

"Minnie, how could you." James gasped.

"We also all got detention. Most of Gryffindor hated us for losing so many points. Harry suffered the worst. Well, we had exams coming up so we got stuck into those. Then came our detention. In the forest, at night, with Hagrid."

"The forest?" Asked Dumbledore sharply. Hermione nodded. "I think I need to speak to Minerva about detentions." He frowned.

"Please do." Muttered Hermione. "Anyway we all went down to Hagrid's. Harry, me, Neville and Malfoy. He wanted us to look for a unicorn that had been hurt. Malfoy and Neville took Fang in one directions. Harry, Hagrid and I set off in another. We met a couple of Centaurs and then we saw red sparks sent up by one of the others signalling trouble. Hagrid ran off to find them."

"He left you alone? In the forest with something running around that could harm a unicorn? I need a word with Hagrid." Lily growled.

"Poor Hagrid." Muttered Sirius.

"So," Hermione cut in, seeing the glare from Lily. "He soon came back with the others, Malfoy had jumped Neville, who got scared and sent up sparks. He then sent Harry off with Malfoy and took Neville with me and him. So naturally Harry found the unicorn. He saw something drinking its blood."

"My God." Gasped Remus. Dumbledore looked troubled and Lily, Sirius and James looked positively horrified.

"Harry froze and his scar hurt really badly. Suddenly he was saved by a different centaur. Firenze. He told Harry that is was Voldemort drinking the blood and that he was after the stone. Harry told us this back in the common room, when Ron was out of hospital. We then had to take exams."

"How on earth did you concentrate on exams with that in your head?" James asked.

"I don't know. Harry didn't really. We were lying outside once exams were over when Harry worked something out. He suddenly just ran off towards Hagrid's. He asked about the stranger who had given Hagrid the dragon egg. Hagrid told us he kept buying him drinks."

"Someone who knows Hagrid." Sirius groaned. "Get him drunk and he will tell you anything."

"Yep. He had told the stranger about Fluffy and how to put him to sleep."

"Oh no." Lily and Remus groaned.

"We tried to go to Professor Dumbledore."

"Finally, a sensible idea." LIly smiled.

"Well we ran into Professor McGonagall. She told us Dumbledore had received a letter from the Ministry, requesting his presence. We tried to tell her but she didn't believe us."

"Oh dear." Lily groaned.

"Somebody wanted the Professor out of the school. They sent a false letter." Remus said.

"Harry figured that as well." Hermione smiled at him.

"Prongs, your son is a genius." Remus grinned.

"I know." James gloated.

"Harry decided to try and keep an eye on the third floor corridor but Professor McGonagall caught them. So he decided to go down the trapdoor that night."

"No Harry." Lily cried.

"Ron and I said we would go with him. So that night we tried but Neville was waiting for us in the common room. He tried to get us not to go out."

"Go Neville." Lily cheered.

"I put a fully body bind on him." Hermione admitted, looking ashamed.

"Hermione!" Lily exclaimed. "Those boys are having a bad effect on you."

"Go Mione." Sirius cheered.

"So off we went. On the last flight of stairs we met Peeves."

"Oh crap." James sighed.

"Harry was amazing. He imitated the Bloody Baron and told Peeves to leave." Hermione grinned.

"Wow." James beamed. "I love this kid."

"That is such an awesome idea." Remus said, looking thoughtful.

"We finally made it and Harry tried to convince us to go back. We didn't. Someone had left a harp playing and Fluffy was asleep." Suddenly Sirius burst out laughing.

"What?" James asked him.

"Just picturing Snivellus playing the harp." Sirius chuckled. Everyone burst out laughing as well, even Lily.

"Ron asked if I wanted to go first."

"How chivalrous." Remus said dryly.

"Harry said he would. He was playing the flute that Hagrid had given him for christmas. He gave that to me and jumped down the trapdoor. Ron went next and I jumped last. We landed on a plant which was already roping around the boys. I managed to get free and realised it was Devil's snare. I lit a fire and we escaped."

"Nice one Mione." Sirius smiled.

"Thanks. Although Ron had to remind me I was a witch and could light a fire without wood." Hermione admitted sheepishly. The boys all laughed, but Lily looked at her sympathetically. "So anyway we went to the next chamber. There were loads if birds flying around. The door on the other side was locked and Harry realised they were actually flying keys. There were broomsticks so we had to catch the key."

"Well you have the best seeker ever on your side." James beamed, proudly.

"Yes we did. He organised us and caught the key."

"Woo." Cheered everyone.

"Next was a giant chessboard. Ron is really good at wizard chess so he took charge. We substituted for some of the pieces and had to play our way across the room. The only way to win was for Ron to be taken and Harry to checkmate the king."

"No." Gasped Lily.

"So Ron sacrificed himself and Harry and I went on, after checking he was ok. After that there was a troll, but it had already been knocked out." She hurriedly assured Lily, who looked slightly green at the mention of another troll.

"Thank God you didn't have to fight that." Muttered Remus.

"That's what we thought too." Hermione grinned. "Next was Snape's defence. It wasn't magic, it was logic."

"Of course." Breathed Lily, smiling slightly.

"Seven bottles of potion and a few clues on parchment. I figured it out. There was only enough for one of us to continue ahead. Of course Harry wanted to be the one. So I went back and collected Ron to go and send an owl to Professor Dumbledore. We met him on the way though and he already knew where Harry was so he rushed off to find him. I took Ron to the hospital wing."

"So Dumbledore knew? Did you set this up." Lily had turned to Dumbledore, her eyes sparkling with rage.

"I do not know Mrs Potter. I haven't done it yet." He said calmly.

"He did." Hermione threw in.

"You…" Lily was beyond speaking. Everyone else was now glaring at Dumbledore as well.

"Anyway, while we were doing that, Harry had gone on. It wasn't Snape trying to steal the stone."

"Told you." Lily looked smug.

"It was Quirrell."

"Of course." Remus breathed.

"He explained to Harry how I had knocked him over at the Quidditch match, breaking his eye contact. Snape had been trying to save Harry. At Halloween, he let the troll in and Snape had been trying to head him off but got bitten. Behind Quirrell was the Mirror of Erised. He saw himself presenting the stone to Voldemort. Harry tried to distract him by keeping him talking. He told Harry that he was the one who broke into Gringotts."

"Voldemort must have helped him." James said.

"Suddenly a voice came from Quirrell, but it wasn't Quirrell himself. It told him to use Harry to get the stone. Harry looked in the mirror and saw himself holding the stone. Suddenly he felt it in his pocket in reality."

"Brilliant." Breathed Dumbledore.

"Harry lied about what he saw, Quirrell believed him but the voice said that Harry was lying. Quirrell took off his turban and Voldemort's face was on the back of his head."

"Yuck!" Exclaimed Lily and James.

"That's disgusting." Remus and Sirius said.

"Sharing a body." Dumbledore sighed. "Poor Quirinus."

"Voldemort spoke to Harry, taunted him about your deaths." Hermione looked sadly at Lily and James. The colour ebbed from their faces.

"Please carry on Hermione." James said in a hoarse voice.

"Harry refused to join him and Quirrell jumped at him to try and kill him."

Lily gasped, turning into James' chest. He held her tightly.

"Quirrell was burned by Harry. He could not touch him without burning. Harry realised this and jumped at Quirrell before he could curse him. Keeping hold on Quirrell he just hung on. Finally somebody arrived as he passed out. Ron and I were so worried about him. He was unconscious for a few days."

"My poor, brave boy." Lily sobbed.

"He was ok though Lily." Hermione said. "He woke up in the hospital wing with Dumbledore. The Weasley twins had tried to send him a toilet eat."

James and Sirius burst out laughing. Remus cracked a smile but Lily just shook her head.

"Dumbledore told him the stone had been destroyed." Dumbledore looked sad as he realised what that meant for his friend. "He told Harry that he had delayed Voldemort but that he wasn't gone completely. Harry then asked why Quirrell couldn't touch him. Dumbledore told him that because you died to save him, that left a mark upon Harry. Somebody so evil couldn't bear to touch somebody marked by such pure love." Hermione said softly. Lily was sobbing even harder now.

"Even if you die, you still protect our son." James whispered in amazement. "You truly are incredible Lily Potter."

"Dumbledore then told Harry that Snape had saved him because James saved Snape's life. He was in James' debt and so he saved Harry."

"Even if you die, you still protect our son." Lily gave him a watery smile.

"Well, if I hadn't been such a prat to Severus maybe he wouldn't have been so horrible to Harry in the first place." James said sadly. Sirius and Remus gaped at him.

"Did you just say you shouldn't have hexed Snivellus so much?" Sirius asked in disbelief. James nodded.

"Who are you and what have you done with James Potter?" Remus asked. James ignored them and Lily was beaming at him. She kissed him until Hermione coughed and carried on with the story.

"Anyway, Dumbledore then explained that only someone who wanted to find the stone, but didn't want to use it, could get it out of the mirror. Quirrell wanted to use it for Voldemort so he could only see himself using it. Harry wanted to find it and keep it safe, therefore he could get it."

"Brilliant." Remus exclaimed.

"Thank you Mr Lupin." Dumbledore smiled.

"Once Dumbledore had left, Ron and I came in and Harry told us everything that happened. Harry thought Dumbledore had deliberately sent him after the stone and seemed ok with it. Unfortunately with Harry in hospital he missed the last Quidditch game so we had no seeker. We lost badly."

James and Sirius winced.

"The next day Hagrid came in, sobbing and blaming himself. He swore to never drink again, not that it worked, but Harry calmed him down and said he didn't blame him."

"Our boy is so sweet." Cooed Lily.

"Hagrid then gave Harry a photo album he had made himself. He had owled all your old friends for photos and put together an album of you two for Harry, because he had no pictures of you." Hermione smiled.

"Awww." Lily started crying again.

"I owe Hagrid big time." James said fervently.

"The end of year feast was all decked for Slytherin."

James, Sirius and Remus all booed.

"Until Professor Dumbledore decided to give out some last minute points."

"No." Gasped Lily. "In front of the whole school, that's not nice professor."

"Yes. He gave Ron fifty points for the **best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years. **He gave me fifty points for **the use of cool logic in the face of fire.** And he gave Harry sixty points for **pure nerve and outstanding courage." **

"That's my boy." Roared James.

"Go Harry." Cheered Sirius and Remus.

"That put us level with Slytherin. Then he gave Neville ten points for standing up to us three on the night we left. Being so brave."

"That's sweet." Lily smiled.

"So Gryffindor won for the first time in seven years." Hermione grinned.

The three boys let out cheers and began a celebratory dance around the front room. It took a few minutes to calm them down enough to carry on the story.

"That was the end of the year. We all passed our exams. Harry's uncle picked him up at the station, really unpleasant man. Harry decided not to tell the Dursley's he couldn't use magic away from school, so Dudley would keep away from him."

"Smart boy." Remus said grimly.

"And that's it. Our first year over." Hermione looked around the room.

"Wow, you guys had more adventures in one year than us in all seven." Sirius said.

"We didn't even want it." Hermione sighed. "I think Potter blood just attracts it."

"I agree." Lily said.

"Hey!" Exclaimed James.

"Well, I'm going to get some food." Lily announced and she went to the kitchen.

"I'm going to check on Harry." James said and Remus left with him. Dumbledore got up and went back to Hogwarts.

"If only that was the worst." Hermione sighed.

"You do stuff like that every year?" Sirius asked. "That already had a dragon, a troll and cerberus and Voldemort."

"It gets worse." Hermione confirmed.

"Wow. Mione?"

"Yes?"

"You didn't come back just to save Lily and James did you?"

"No." She said warily.

"Who else dies?" Sirius asked.

"I can't say yet. It's all part of the story and if I tell it in parts it will get even more confusing. A lot of this is going to be hard to hear." She sighed. She looked so miserable that Sirius came over and put his arm around her shoulders. "I miss them." Hermione said.

"Them?"

"Harry and Ron."

"Oh. Well you came to a whole new time. I'm not surprised that your a little homesick. If I can help at all, tell me yeah?" Sirius said, looking her in the eye.

"I will. Thanks Sirius." Hermione smiled at him.

"What you did, coming back here, it's incredibly brave. The hat made the right choice putting you in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw." Sirius said, Then he looked away, regretting saying anything.

"I'm glad you think so." Hermione said. Sirius looked up, glad she wasn't making fun of him. "I'm also glad to be in Gryffindor."

"What happens when we fix everything?" Sirius asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"Will you have to go back?"

"I don't know. I don't think the time turner will go forward that far in time. I would have no idea what I will go back to anyway. It's possible Harry and Ron wouldn't even know who I was. I might have to just stay here and live my life in this time." Hermione said, looking thoughtful.

"Well I'm sure Dumbledore will be able to help. You could stay with me if you get desperate." Sirius grinned.

"Thanks. I'll remember that I have a last resort." She teased.

Just then James and Remus came back in.

"Hey lovebirds." James said. Hermione and Sirius jumped apart. Sirius returned to his spot on the couch and Hermione went red. Lily saved them from further comment by coming in with food. They all dug in.

"Are we going to start your second year tonight?" Lily asked.

"We should. The sooner I tell the story, the sooner we can right the future." Hermione replied. Everyone nodded and settled down, looking at her attentively.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Chamber of Secrets

"Well…" Hermione began. "The summer was, once again, horrible for Harry. The Dursley's locked his owl, Hedwig, in her cage all summer."

"They what?" Lily yelled.

"Stupid thing to do to an owl." Remus growled.

"They had plenty of arguments that summer about it. Vernon complained about the noises Hedwig made but when Harry explained that she was bored and should be let out, Vernon said no. He didn't want Harry writing to me and Ron."

"He wouldn't even let him talk to his friends?" James asked in disgust.

"No. He didn't want Harry to have friends. On Harry's birthday, which they ignored, Dudley was being rude and told Harry to pass the frying pan. Harry replied "**You've forgotten the magic word."** He got in plenty of trouble for saying the word 'magic'."

"Bunch of hits." Sirius spat.

"Harry was treated like dung basically. He really missed Hogwarts, and he felt lonely because he hadn't had any letters."

"You didn't write to him?" Asked James, outraged.

"We did." Hermione said quickly. "But they were being blocked."

"What? By who?" Remus asked.

"You will find out in a minute." Hermione told him with a grin.

"So infuriating." Sirius groaned.

Suddenly there was a pop. Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace, quickly followed my Professor McGonagall.

"Minnie!" Exclaimed James.

"Mr Potter." She sighed. "Albus just explained what is going on. He thought I should hear it. Hermione nodded.

"You are Miss Granger I presume?" McGonagall asked her. Hermione nodded.

"Harry's friend from the future." She confirmed. "You sent me here. Or you will do. Did Professor Dumbledore fill you in on our first year?"

"Yes." McGonagall said. "Miraculous you survived."

"I quite agree." Sighed Lily.

"Shall I continue?" Hermione asked.

"Please do 'Mione." Sirius smiled.

"Dudley came outside, boasting that he knew what day it was."

"The fat git finally learnt the days of the week did he?" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Language, Black." Lily said warningly, before McGonagall could open her mouth.

"He started taunting Harry that he had got no cards or presents on his birthday, saying he must have no friends."

"Lily, your nephew is the world's biggest…" Sirius growled.

"I know." Lily cried angrily. How could Tuney do this to her son? How could she raise such a child?

"Harry started muttering nonsense words under his breath, pretending to do magic."

"Nice one son." James smiled.

"Shouldn't have done that Harry." Remus groaned.

"Why not?" Asked James. "About time he stood up for himself."

"They will probably punish him, even if he didn't do any actual magic." Lily explained.

"Oh." James' face grew angry.

"They did." Hermione said sadly. "Pertunia made him do loads of chores, saying he couldn't eat until he had finished, while Dudley taunted him, walking around with ice cream."

"Those, foul, loathsome, little cockroaches." James spluttered. Hermione smiled.

"Albus, how could we leave him there?" McGonagall asked him.

"It was the safest place." Dumbledore replied.

"Safest?" Lily and James yelped. "They treat him like a servant. Worse than a servant, my family didn't even treat House Elves that badly." James continued, glaring at Dumbledore.

"Once he was done, Harry ate his food and then had to go to his room."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"What did the feed my godson?" Sirius growled.

"Sirius, they gave Harry bread and cheese, Lily because the Dursley's were having a dinner party and didn't want Harry spoiling everything. Instead he had to make no noise and pretend not to even exist."

"Bread and cheese? After nothing all day? They will starve him!" Sirius yelled.

"They made him pretend not to exist? On his birthday? That's a new low even for Tuney." Lily looked torn between anger and tears. James was too angry to even speak. Dumbledore looked sad.

"Remember why Hermione is here. We are going to change this. Harry is going to live with you guys, not them." Remus said reassuringly.

"When Harry got upstairs, he found a house elf on his bed."

"A house elf? That's impossible. They can't leave the house without express permission." Sirius said, looking puzzled.

"Maybe someone sent him?" Lily suggested.

"Who would send a house elf to Harry?" James asked.

"Maybe if you let Hermione continue, we could find out." Remus put in.

"He told Harry his name was Dobby. He hadn't been sent, in fact he wasn't supposed to be there at all. He told Harry a bit about house elves, Harry felt sorry for him because house elves can never leave unless given clothes. Unfortunately, Harry was really nice to him, Dobby wasn't used to this and he made loads of noise. Harry had to shut him up before the Dursley's heard. Harry then offered to help Dobby."

"Awww." Cooed Lily. "My son is so sweet."

"Just like his mother." Remus and James said together.

"Then Dobby told him not to go back to Hogwarts."

"What?" James yelled.

"He can't seriously believe that Harry would stay in that awful place all year round?" Remus asked, incredulous.

"Dobby told him there was a plot to make terrible things happen at Hogwarts."

Lily groaned. "Not again."

"Great, now Harry will be right in the middle of it." James scowled.

"Poor kid." Sirius agreed.

"Worse than his father." Remus nodded.

"No, nobody is that bad." Lily grinned.

"Hey!" James said indignantly.

"If we could continue." McGonagall interrupted.

"Apparently Dobby wasn't supposed to be telling Harry this and started hitting his head on things as a punishment. This got the attention of the Dursley's." Everyone, except the teachers, groaned. "Harry hid Dobby in the closet and Vernon threatened to make him sorry he had ever been born if they heard him once more."

"I'm going to kill my sister and her husband." Lily growled. The boys all edged away from her.

"Dobby let slip he knew Harry hadn't been getting his letters from us and Harry worked out that Dobby had been stopping his letters."

"That wretched thing." Sirius hissed.

"I don't care if he is trying to protect Harry, he has no right to stop his letters." James said angrily.

"Harry tried to catch him and get his letters, but Dobby ran downstairs, Harry followed."

"Oh no." Muttered Lily.

"Dobby levitated the cake, Petunia had made for dessert, telling Harry he had to agree not to go to Hogwarts."

"If I ever get my hands on that house elf." James was clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Harry said he couldn't. Hogwarts was his home so Dobby make the dessert crash to the floor."

"Shit." Hissed Sirius.

"Black!" Lily yelled, taking out her wand and hexing him. He tried to speak but only pink bubbles emerged from his mouth. James and Remus fell about laughing. Hermione cracked a smile.

"Vernon threatened him, while trying to smooth things over with the guests. He made Harry clean it up. But then a owl arrived. It was giving Harry a warning for using underage magic."

"But he didn't." Lily exclaimed.

"The Ministry wouldn't know that. They can just tell that someone in that house is using magic, not who is using it. As Harry is the only wizard there they would assume it was him." James explained, looking angry himself.

"Vernon had made him read the letter out loud, so now they knew that Harry can't use magic outside of school."

"Well crap." James sighed. Lily raised her wand threateningly.

"They locked Harry in his room. Put bars on his window and…"

"Bars on his window?!" James yelled.

"How dare they!" Remus hissed.

"Albus, really! How could you leave the poor boy there?" McGonagall rounded on him.

"I didn't know."He said sadly.

"You didn't check on him? Even though you knew what those muggles were like?" She stared at him in blank astonishment.

"I thought it for the best. He is safest there, no need to disturb the poor boy."

"Disturb him!" Lily shrieked. "Being with my sister for that long would disturb anyone. Wizards would be welcome." Hermione silently cast the counter charm on Sirius. Who grinned at her gratefully.

"And they put a cat flap in the door to push food through." Hermione rushed through the sentence as if it would make it more pleasant to hear quickly.

"They. Did. What?" Lily's voice was calm and cold. Everyone edged further away from her, except James. He put his arms around his wife and whispered soothingly in her ear.

"Brave boy." Remus grinned.

"Foolish boy." Said Sirius at the same time. Lily finally calmed down.

"Finally, one night Harry woke up from a bad dream and found someone outside his window. Ron and his twin brothers were in a flying car."

"Awesome!" Exclaimed Sirius and James.

"Sirius, you already have a flying motorbike." Remus shook his head.

"Yeah Padfoot, you have a motorbike, I want the car." James grinned.

"No." Lily said.

"Come on Lils, please?"

"No. James Potter you are not having a flying car." James pouted.

"Whipped." Said Sirius, disguising it as a cough.

"Harry told Ron to explain to Hogwarts why he couldn't get out. Ron told him to stop being stupid, they were there to rescue him."

There were cheers around the room.

"They hooked something around the bars and pulled them off the window. Thankfully it didn't wake the Dursley's. Fred and George climbed into Harry's room and picked the lock on his door so they could go to the cupboard that was his room to get his stuff."

"They even locked his things away?" Lily asked, horrified.

"How did he do his homework?" Remus asked.

"They did and he didn't. When they came back with his things they all escaped, Harry nearly left Hedwig. She hooted loudly and the Dursley's woke up."

"No, no, no." Lily muttered under her breath.

"Harry got her and tried to climb in the car. Vernon caught his ankle trying to pull him back. Thankfully the Weasley's got Harry into the car and they flew off."

Cheers rang around the room again. McGonagall looked half disapproving and half relieved.

"On the way, Harry told them about Dobby. Finally they arrived at the Burrow. Ron was embarrassed but Harry loved it. Unfortunately Mrs Weasley caught them all and began yelling. She didn't blame Harry though and gave him breakfast."

"Thank you Molly." James whispered.

"They were all eating and Mrs Weasley made them de-gnome the garden."

"Poor kids." James muttered. "I hated having to do that."

"Peter did too." Sirius said. Nobody noticed the scowl that momentarily crossed Hermione's face at his mention.

"She said Harry could go to bed, but he offered to help anyway."

"Good boy." Lily smiled.

"Bad choice." Sirius groaned at the same time. Lily hit him.

"Ginny, Ron's younger sister, was very taken with Harry. She couldn't actually speak to him properly."

"Aww." Lily cooed.

"Haha, he is better than you Prongs." Sirius gave his bark like laugh.

"When they had done the garden, Mr Weasley came home and was very interested in Harry, asking him all sorts of questions about muggle appliances. Harry told Ron is was '**the best house i've ever been in.'" **

"Our boy is so sweet." Lily beamed.

"Harry stayed at the Burrow for the rest of summer. It was the opposite of Privet Drive. Everyone fussed over him. The house wasn't spotless but it had character. The thing Harry found was that everyone liked him. Finally they got their Hogwarts letters. For DADA we needed the set of Lockhart's books."

James and Sirius looked revolted.

"That Ravenclaw git a few years above us?" They queried. Hermione nodded grimly.

"Don't call him a git." Lily blushed slightly.

"Lily likes Lockhart." Sirius grinned.

"So did I." Hermione admitted. "I wrote to Ron, who had told me about rescuing Harry, and we agreed to meet in Diagon Alley. The Weasley's travelled by Floo Powder. But Harry never had. Being Harry he got out at the wrong grate."

"Not again. This boy gets in more trouble than anyone." McGonagall cried.

"Where did he come out?" Sighed Lily.

"Knockturn Alley."

"No!" Sirius cried. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "My mother dragged me and Reg down there once. It's really creepy and horrible."

"He was in the shop Borgin &amp; Burkes. He had to hide in a cabinet because Malfoy came in."

"He has so much bad luck." James groaned.

"Malfoy was selling some stuff. Ministry had been doing raids. Didn't want to get caught."

"Slimy, death eater scum." James growled.

"Once they left Harry was found by Hagrid."

"We owe him so much." Put in Lily.

"He took Harry back to the Weasleys. There was a booksigning at Flourish and Blotts. Gilderoy Lockhart was there. When he saw Harry, he dragged him to the front and got them both in the Daily Prophet."

"That git is using my son for publicity." James cried in outrage. Lily didn't even bother to tell him off, looking angry herself.

"Harry, Ron, myself and Ginny ran into Draco Malfoy who was being himself. Ginny defended Harry until Lucius Malfoy and Mr Weasley came over. Mr Malfoy was taunting him about being poor. He took one of Ginny's books tutting that it was second hand. Mr Weasley launched himself at Mr Malfoy and they started fighting."

"In a public bookshop, really?" McGonagall cried in disbelief.

"Fight, fight, fight." Came the cry from the marauders.

"Hagrid pulled them apart, Mr Malfoy gave Ginny the book back and left. They all made it back to the Burrow safely and waited to return to Hogwarts."

"Quick, before anything else happens." James groaned. Hermione allowed herself a brief grin and carried on. Sirius noted the smile and sighed. He knew that meant something else did happen. It was probably bad.

"They used Mr Weasley's car to get to the station, just in time. Everyone went through the barrier. Harry and Ron were last. When they tried they smashed into the barrier."

"What? It doesn't get sealed until after 11." Remus said, looking shocked.

"Oh no." Groaned James.

"They couldn't get through and they had no idea what to do."

"Send an owl. Wait for Mrs Weasley." Lily said. James threw her a look.

"Given these two, do you really think that's gunna happen?" He asked. Lily sighed and shook her head.

"Of course not." Hermione grinned. "They flew the car."

"They did what?" Everyone exclaimed. Sirius and James high fived each other. Remus and Lily groaned, heads in their hands. McGonagall looked scandalised and Dumbledore looked amused.

"The car had an invisibility booster, but it stopped working." Hermione continued/

"Really?" Sighed Remus in exasperation.

"They followed the Hogwarts Express to school. The car engine gave out as they were almost there and they crashed into a certain tree." James, Sirius and Remus went pale.

"No." They all gasped. Hermione nodded.

"The Whomping Willow." She added for everyone else. Now they all looked concerned.

"Ron's wand got snapped almost in two, but other than that they made it out just fine."

"Thank God." Sighed James.

"Poor Ron." Cried Lily.

"Those kids have the worst luck for adventure don't they?" Remus grinned. Hermione nodded fervently.

"They got caught outside by Snape."

The marauders groaned and started muttering curses.

"He took them to his office and told them they had been seen. He refused to let them explain and went to fetch Professor McGonagall, who did let them. Then told them they could have sent an owl. Apparently they both felt like idiots."

"They were." Remus smiled.

"She gave them detention and wrote to their families. Snape, who was hoping they would be expelled, was most unhappy. Apparently Professor Dumbledore came in and made them feel worse than ever. Then he took Snape back to the feast. Harry wriggled his way out of losing house points."

"How the hell did he manage that?" James and Sirius cried.

"He argued that term hadn't officially started when they took the car so Gryffindor shouldn't lose point. Professor McGonagall agreed." Hermione grinned. McGonagall allowed herself a small smile.

"I take back what I said about luck. When it comes to school stuff they have the best luck ever. First the broom then this. I think Minnie is going soft." James grinned. McGonagall's stern expression returned.

"Professor McGonagall made them eat in Snape's office, informed them Ginny had been put in Gryffindor, and then left. When they were done eating, Harry and Ron went up to Gryffindor tower. I had heard rumours about the car and they told me they hadn't been expelled. I was disapproving…"

"Good for you." Lily smiled.

"But told them the password and we all went to bed. Although not without plenty of cheering from the Gryffindors." Hermione paused. "Maybe we should all get some rest now. We can finish the story tomorrow. Everyone nodded.

"Do you have a place to stay?" James asked Hermione. She shook her head. "You can take the spare bedroom here if you like." He offered.

"Thank you Mr Potter." She smiled.

"James, please. My son's best friend can call me James."

"Ok, thanks James." Hermione grinned at him.

"You two, be back here early." Lily turned to Remus and Sirius. They nodded, saluted and apparated away. Dumbledore and McGonagall returned to Hogwarts.

"Here, I will show you your room." Lily turned to Hermione and led her upstairs. She caught a brief glance at the sleeping baby Harry.

"He is so cute." Hermione beamed.

"He is indeed. Good taste in friends as well." Lily smiled back. Hermione blushed. Lily stopped at a door on the right and Hermione went in. As she closed the door, Lily paused.

"Thank you for coming back here Hermione."

"You're welcome Lily. I'm glad I did." Hermione replied. With that, the door clicked closed and she got ready for bed. Hermione couldn't sleep. Once in bed, she became more homesick than ever. Harry and Ron. As soon as she thought his name, she winced. Ron. She missed him. But Sirius' face crept into her mind. It was so different, seeing him carefree, happy. He was handsome and rather funny. What if she could never return to her time? Would it be right to lead Sirius on just to disappear? If she could stay, clearly she couldn't wait for Ron who was barely one in this time. Her feelings for Sirius were growing. She didn't know how to act on them Little did Hermione know, that miles away, in his flat in London, Sirius was pondering the very same problem.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Chamber of Secrets pt 2

Hermione woke with a squeal. Something heavy and wriggly had been dropped on her suddenly. Opening her eyes, she saw Harry giggling and writhing on her stomach, James was standing nearby, laughing. Even Lily was fighting a smile. Hermione scowled at them but Harry's gurgling laughter was infectious. Soon enough Hermione was laughing with them.

"Come on Harry, breakfast time." Lily smiled, picking up the baby and carrying him out of the room.

"Breakfast?" James' head snapped up.

"Yes, breakfast for you too, but only once Hermione is dressed." Lily called over her shoulder.

"Hurry up 'Mione, hurry up." James danced up and down in the doorway.

"Well I'm not getting dressed with you standing there." She told him with a grin. His face fell and he sprinted back downstairs. Looking around, Hermione saw that Lily had put some clothes for her on the dresser and quickly got dressed.

Once she was ready, Hermione headed downstairs were James was waiting impatiently. He grinned as soon as he saw her and they both sat down at the kitchen table. Lily had made pancakes, which filled the kitchen with a delicious smell. No sooner had the plates been put in front of them there was a loud 'pop' and Sirius fell out of the fireplace.

"Once again Padfoot, your timing is impeccable." James grinned at his friend, who was already eyeing the pancakes hungrily. Lily pretended to scowl but set another ready made plate of pancakes in front of Sirius.

"Have him over often?" Hermione laughed.

"Every time I make food." Lily said, throwing him a dirty look.

"Your cooking is just so good Lily Flower." Sirius said between mouthfuls.

"Don't call me Lily Flower." Lily snapped.

"Come on Lils, he doesn't mean any harm." James interceded. Lily fed Harry while the others ate quickly.

"Where is Moony?" James asked as he pushed his empty plate away.

"He said he would be here in a few minutes." Sirius said, copying James. Hermione finished a few minutes after.

"That was lovely, thanks Lily." Hermione smiled.

"Your welcome." Lily smiled back. Suddenly there was another 'pop' and Remus came tumbling into the room. Lily set another plate on the table and James got up to make room.

"You lucky bugger Moony. If I miss breakfast she makes me cook my own." James stared at the new plate in front of Remus.

"Ahh but Remus is a guest." Lily grinned at him.

"And I'm your husband." James complained.

"God knows why." Lily muttered. Hermione and Sirius snorted.

"Are we waiting for the professors?" Hermione asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Ok then." She smiled and they all went back into the front room. Lily set Harry down on the floor and Sirius sat beside him, playing with some toys. Hermione smiled down at the sight and then sat in her chair from the night before.

"So, we had just heard that the boys decided to fly a car to Hogwarts." James prompted, a note of pride in his voice. Lily noticed this too and scowled at him.

"Yes." Agreed Sirius. Hermione had just opened her mouth to begin when Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall popped out of the fireplace. They took in the room before them and they quickly sat down.

"Well, the next morning Ron received a howler from Mrs Weasley." All the boys winced. "After that I figured the boys had been punished enough for their stupidity."

"Enough? Crikey, you're nicer than Lily." Sirius laughed. "She wouldn't think we had been punished enough until we had a week's worth of detention and about five howlers each."

"You did often deserve those punishment Mr Black." McGonagall smiled at him.

Hermione thought she heard Sirius mutter "Overkill." She smiled and continued with the story.

"After breakfast we had Herbology. We got down there in time to hear Lockhart telling Professor Sprout how to bandage the Whomping Willow."

"Bet she loved that." James snorted.

"Not really. Then Lockhart took Harry aside and tried to say that Harry only took the car to get more fame. Blaming himself for giving Harry a taste of fame in Flourish and Blotts."

"That slimy prat." Sirius growled.

"Herbology was about mandrakes."

"Hate those things." Lily shuddered.

"Me too." Agreed Remus.

"After that we had Transfiguration. Ron's wand now didn't work properly because he had snapped it. He refused to write home for a new one because he didn't want another howler. During lunch a first year, Colin Creevey wanted a picture of Harry. He was muggle-born and wanted plenty of pictures of Hogwarts, including famous Harry Potter."

"Oh Lord, why won't they leave him alone." Remus groaned.

"Another fan. Definitely better than you Prongs. He isn't even trying." Sirius grinned.

"And he doesn't like the attention." Lily added. "Thankfully, or he would be as arrogant as his dad."

"Hey!" James protested.

"He also wanted Harry to sign the Malfoy heard and started laughing about signed photographs. He taunted Ron about how a signed photo would be worth more than the family house."

"I see Lucius raised the brat well." Sirius spat.

"Like father, like son." James agreed.

"Then Lockhart showed up. He offered to be in the picture as well and then both of them would sign it."

"He is using my son for more publicity." Lily exclaimed, angrily.

"He took Harry off and started telling him it was big headed to be giving out signed photographs this early in his career and how he had rescued him from that situation."

"He made it worse." Remus protested. Hermione nodded. McGonagall was eyeing Dumbledore.

"Please make sure we never hire him." She pleaded. "The worst kind of colleague." Hermione snorted. "Miss Granger?"

"He just isn't the worst we end up with."

"Good Lord." McGonagall cried. "There is worse?" Hermione just nodded.

"First DADA lesson started with a quiz all about Lockhart. After that he showed us Cornish Pixies."

"Well that's reasonable for a second year class." Remus pointed out.

"Not the way Lockhart does it. He decided just to let them loose in class. The problem was he couldn't control them. They broke a window and hung Neville on the candelabra. Lockhart tried a made up spell that had no effect, except a pixie stole his wand and threw it out of the window." Hermione continued.

McGonagall was shaking her head in despair. Lily and Remus looked horrified and James and Sirius were laughing their heads off.

"The whole class ran out and Lockhart told me, Ron and Harry to clear them up. Which we did. The next morning Oliver Wood woke Harry at the crack of dawn for Quidditch practise. They spent ages going through new moves and stuff. When they finally got out on the pitch, it was only a few minutes few the Slytherins showed up."

"But Wood would have booked the pitch." James said, looking outraged.

"He did. Snape gave the Slytherins special permission to practise as they had a new seeker."

"But all teams get new seekers as some point. That doesn't mean they can interrupt other people's training." James glared at the notes in Hermione's hand.

"I agree Mr Potter. This is ridiculous." McGonagall said, looking angry.

"Anyway, Malfoy was their new seeker. His father had bought the team all new broomsticks so he would get on."

"That's disgraceful." Lily said.

"But allowed." McGonagall sighed.

"We are buying Gryffindor new brooms. After Harry gets on the team." James promised. "That way everyone can see he is brilliant, and the rest of the team get new brooms." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Ron and I came over to see why they weren't training anymore. Malfoy was laughing about how the Gryffindor team's brooms weren't that good. I told him that '**at least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in, they got in on pure talent.'**"

"You tell him 'Mione." Sirius and James roared.

"He called me a mudblood." Suddenly their expressions dropped from pride to fury.

"He did what?" James asked, cold fury in his voice.

"That disgusting little…" Sirius' voice trailed away. He couldn't seem to find words bad enough. Everyone else wore the same disgusted expression.

"Ron tried to curse him but the broken wand backfired and it hit Ron instead. He ended up belching slugs."

"Yuck!" Everyone cried together.

"Harry and I took him to Hagrid's. Ron explained what that meant because Harry and I didn't know. Hagrid then started teasing Harry about signed photos."

The boys all chuckled.

"Then McGonagall told the boys what they had to do for detention when we went back up for lunch. Ron had to clean the trophy room the muggle way. Harry had to help Lockhart answer his fan mail."

"That poor, poor boy." Sirius said, shaking his head sadly.

"I thought our detentions were bad." James agreed. "That's just torture."

"First year the forest, second year Lockhart fan mail. I would take the forest." Remus nodded. Even McGonagall looked a little sickened. In the detention, Harry heard a voice. It wanted to kill."

"Kill!?" Demanded Lily and Remus. The two professors exchanged worried glances.

"Lockhart said he hadn't heard it and let Harry go. He had been there for almost four hours. He told Ron that night what had happened. One day Harry got in trouble with Filch for dripping mud around the castle after a Quidditch practise. Nearly Headless Nick helped him out by distracting Filch and Harry got away without being in trouble. In exchange he agreed to go to Nick's deathday party."

"Oooh. That sounds interesting." Lily smiled.

"It really wasn't. It was horrible. But as we left Harry heard the voice again. We followed it and saw a huge puddle of water outside of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Mrs Norris had been petrified. We didn't know that, we thought she was dead. On the wall was written '**The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware.'**"

"Oh my goodness." Lily and Remus exclaimed. James and Sirius just looked confused. McGonagall and Dumbledore were even more worried. What was roaming around their school?

"Naturally everyone arrived from dinner while we were standing there. Filch tried to blame us. Professor Dumbledore took us to Lockhart's office and said we couldn't have done it. Harry said we had been at Nick's deathday party and we weren't hungry so we went straight upstairs. Snape tried to get Harry banned from Quidditch until he told the truth, because he didn't believe us."

"He what?" James, Sirius and surprisingly, McGonagall growled.

"It's ok. Professor McGonagall flattened the idea."

"Too right." She muttered.

"People began to think that Harry was the heir of Slytherin."

"But he is in Gryffindor." James protested.

"In History of Magic, I asked professor Binns about the chamber. He told us a little bit. Harry and Ron thought the heir was Malfoy."

"Possible." Sirius said. "Evil enough."

"We went to ask Myrtle if she had seen anything."

"Too curious for your own good." Remus groaned, shaking his head. "Just like Harry's parents." He added with a grin.

"We saw spiders scuttling through a crack in the window. Apparently Ron is terrified of spiders. We went to talk to Myrtle who said she wasn't paying attention. Ron decided to be tactless and she flew off crying. Percy caught us coming out of the bathroom and wasn't happy that Harry and Ron had been in a girls bathroom."

"I bet he wasn't." Sirius and James grinned.

"I came up with the idea of Polyjuice potion to ask Malfoy what he knew."

"In your second year?" Gasped Remus, who hadn't been good at potions.

"How were you going to do it?" James asked.

"We were going to make it." Hermione grinned.

"But, even I...wow. Those boys are having a very bad effect on you." Lily said, shaking her head. "That could go disastrously wrong." She added. Hermione grimaced.

"We managed to get Lockhart to sign the permission form to take out a book in the restricted section so we could brew it. Lockhart tried to give Harry advice on seeking."

"But they git didn't even play seeker." James cried, looking both exasperated and annoyed. "And Harry is the youngest seeker in a century, he certainly doesn't need advice."

"After that was Gryffindor vs Slytherin, first game of the Quidditch season. It was raining heavily and one bludger was out to get Harry."

"It must have been jinxed." James cried immediately.

"It was." Hermione told him.

"Damn Slytherins." Sirius growled.

"Not by them."

"Stupid house elf." Remus snorted.

"What?" James and Sirius spun to look at him. Hermione looked impressed.

"Well that house elf, Dobby, was the one who stopped them getting through the barrier. Maybe he did it." Remus argued. Hermione nodded. They all glared furiously.

"Wood called for a time out and I put the Impervious charm on Harry's glasses so he could at least see a little."

"Nice work 'Mione." James grinned.

"Harry saw the snitch right above Malfoy's head, but he was too busy taunting Harry to notice."

"What an idiot." James snorted.

"The bludger caught up with Harry and broke his arm."

Lily's eyes were wide with worry.

"Harry caught the snitch though." Hermione assured James. He and Sirius then did a celebratory dance. "Lockhart tried to help. Harry wanted to go straight to the hospital wing, but Lockhart insisted. He didn't exactly fix Harry's arm either."

"What did he do?" James asked, through gritted teeth.

"He removed his bones."

"What!?" Everybody looked both worried, and furious.

"Madam Pomfrey fixed him up just fine. It just took overnight instead of a few minutes."

"That good for nothing, stupid, annoying…" Sirius ranted, but he stopped when baby Harry started to cry. Quickly, he picked up a new toy, a stuff black dog, and began playing with Harry again.

"During the night Dobby visited Harry. He told him that it had been him who stopped them getting through the barrier and cursed the bludger."

Remus grinned smugly.

"He also let slip that history was repeating itself, so Harry knew the chamber had been opened before. Dobby wouldn't tell him who had opened it and disappeared before Harry could try anything. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had come in carrying Colin Creevey. He had been petrified on the way up to visit Harry."

"The poor boy." Lily exclaimed.

"Only a first year too." Remus shook his head in disgust.

"Next morning, Harry was allowed back out of the hospital wing. Ron and I had heard about Colin so we decided to start on the potion. He found us in Myrtle's bathroom and told us what Dobby had told him, and what he hadn't told him which was just as significant."

"Too smart for your own good." James muttered. Hermione grinned.

"That year, Malfoy had decided to stay at Hogwart for christmas."

"That's suspicious. Knowing Narcissa she would always want her darling boy home for the holidays." Sirius frowned.

"We stayed as well, the holidays would be a great time to question him."

"Smart thinking." Remus grinned.

"Two of the main ingredients were not in the students store cupboard, we would need them from Snape's stores." Hermione admitted quietly. McGonagall and Lily looked disapproving. James and Sirius rubbed their hands with glee.

"Stealing from a teacher, what has gotten into you 'Mione?" Remus asked with a grin. She blushed.

"Well during the lesson, Harry threw a firework into Goyle's cauldron, which exploded and hit everyone with swelling solution."

"Sweet!" James and Sirius laughed.

"I slipped out and grabbed the things. I got back in time and Snape couldn't prove it was us. Although Harry thought he knew anyway."

"He probably did." Lily said.

"Anyway, a few days later there was a notice about a duelling club starting."

"Cool." James said loudly.

"That would be useful." Remus mused.

"It would have been, if Lockhart hadn't been running it." Hermione told them with a laugh.

"How on earth did that moron convince Professor Dumbledore to let him teach duelling?" Sirius asked.

"No idea." Hermione told him. "He also convinced Snape to help."

"Snivellus? Help Lockhart?" James spluttered, through howls of laughter. "

They gave a demonstration in which Snape disarmed Lockhart, who tried to pretend he could have blocked it but didn't want to."

"Nonsense." Lily snorted.

"Then they split us into pairs to practise. Snape put Harry with Malfoy."

"Of course he did." Spat James.

"Git." Sirius growled.

"Black!" Lily warned.

"He paired me with a girl called Millicent Bulstrode who decided on muggle duelling instead of magical. Harry and Malfoy were trying proper spells instead of just disarming."

"Atta boy son." James ruffled Harry's hair proudly.

"Do not encourage my son to jinx people." Lily scowled at him.

"This Malfoy kid is jinxing him too." James protested. "Just teaching him to defend himself."

"Lockhart got everyone to stop and made Harry and Malfoy give a demonstration. Malfoy conjured a snake. Lockhart tried to get rid of it but only make it angry. The snake made to bit a Hufflepuff boy in our year and Harry told it to leave him alone."

"Oh no." James groaned.

"He is being helpful." Lily told him.

"He used parseltongue in front of half the school. If there were rumours about him being the heir of Slytherin before, that will be nothing compared to now." James explained with another groan.

"James is right." Hermione said.

"First time for everything." Remus grinned.

"Oi." James glared at him.

"The Hufflepuff boy ran off, thinking Harry had been egging the snake on and Harry had no clue why. So when we got upstairs Ron explained what he had done. Harry hadn't even realised he was not speaking English. Next morning it was snowing so much Herbology got cancelled. Harry decided to go and find Justin, who was the Hufflepuff boy, and explain that he had been trying to help."

"They won't believe him." Sirius said glumly.

"He heard some other Hufflepuffs talking in the LIbrary and they all thought he was the heir of Slytherin. On his way back to the common room he stumbled into Justin. He had been petrified."

"No! Harry is going to be found next to the body isn't he?" Lily groaned. Why did her son always have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?

"Yes. The thing was, Nearly Headless Nick had been petrified too."

"What?" Everyone exclaimed.

"Just as Harry was about to get help Peeves saw him and yelled that there had been another attack. Professor McGonagall got everyone back to class and took Harry to see Professor Dumbledore."Ch


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: End of Second year

Everyone was watching Hermione with rapt attention.

"Professor, you can't possibly think Harry was doing this?" James turned to McGonagall.

"I'm sure I don't Mr Potter, however with him turning up at the wrong moment every time, I'm sure Albus would have wanted to speak to him." She explained.

"In Professor Dumbledore's office he saw the Sorting Hat. It told him he would have done well in Slytherin, which unnerved Harry a bit." Hermione continued with the story.

"It would do that to me too." James shuddered.

"He then saw Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, catch fire." Everyone groaned.

"Our poor son. He really does get in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even if the Professor knew he hadn't done anything it just looks bad." Remus said, shaking his head.

"Professor Dumbledore came in and explained about Phoenixes and then Hagrid came running in to try and convince the Professor that Harry was innocent."

"Aww, bless Hagrid." Lily smiled.

"Professor Dumbledore said he didn't think Harry was behind the attacks, so Hagrid went back out and Dumbledore asked Harry if he needed to tell him anything. Harry didn't want to admit to hearing voices,"

"I wouldn't either." Sirius commented.

"So he said no. People were now getting really worried after Nick's attack and they mostly thought it was Harry. Thankfully Fred and George treated it as some kind of joke and kept making jokes about how Harry was nipping off to the Chamber for a spot of tea and stuff."

"I love those twins." James chortled and Sirius grinned down at baby Harry.

"Me too." He chuckled.

"Christmas was really fun at Hogwarts. I got to see all the decorations on christmas day for the first time and we had plenty of snowball fights with the Weasleys. Fred and George stole Percy's prefect badge and changed it so it said 'pinhead'."

James, Sirius and Remus burst out laughing. Dumbledore looked on with an amused smile and even Lily was fighting a smile.

"Those two are the best." James grinned.

"Almost marauder material." Sirius agreed.

"don't tell them that." Hermione advised.

"Why not?" Sirius asked.

"They practically worship you." She laughed.

"Oh no! Now you've done it." Lily groaned as James and Sirius exchanged delighted smirks. McGonagall put her head in her hands.

"What did I do to deserve this." She moaned.

"That night I put some sleeping draught in a couple of cakes and Harry and Ron waited for Crabbe and Goyle to leave the Great Hall. They then left the cakes for those two to find and they stuffed their faces, making them fall asleep."

"Never, ever get on 'Mione's bad side." Sirius said, looking impressed and wary. Hermione grinned at him.

"They pulled out a couple of hairs and stole their shoes. We all took the potion but only Harry and Ron went to interrogate Malfoy."

"What happened to you?" Sirius asked, looking concerned.

"The hair I got wasn't a human one. I accidentally used a cat hair and was stuck with a furry face." She explained grimly. James tried desperately not to laugh but the image was just too funny. Hermione and Lily glared at him and he hastily tried to turn it into a cough.

"Smooth mate." Sirius muttered, grinning.

"Anyway, Harry and Ron found out that Malfoy wasn't the heir of Slytherin and he didn't know who was. When they came back, they convinced me to go to the hospital wing and thankfully Madam Pomfrey didn't ask any questions so we didn't get in trouble for making Polyjuice Potion."

"Incredible." Remus said.

"One day Harry and ron heard Filch yelling about something so they went to see and Myrtle had flooded her corridor again."

McGonagall let out a snort of exasperation. "We really need to do something about her, Albus." She sighed.

"Myrtle told them that someone had thrown a book at her."

"Fifty points if they got in through her head." Snickered Sirius. Lily glared at him while James chuckled.

"So, naturally, Harry goes and picks the book up. It was blank. He saw it had belonged to a T. ."

Dumbledore's head snapped up, a grave expression on his face.

"What is it Albus?" McGonagall asked.

"Not many people know that Lord Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle." Dumbledore informed them gravely. The marauders, Lily and McGonagall let out gasps of both understanding and horror.

"So why is his blank diary floating around Myrtle's bathroom?" Asked Sirius.

"That is a good question Mr Black." Dumbledore said. "But I am sure Miss Granger will provide the answers we need." He nodded to her and she swallowed.

"I tried to see if there was any hidden writing, when Harry showed it to me, but there was nothing. Ron and I thought he should just get rid of it, but he didn't. Unfortunately it was soon Valentines day, and Lockhart had a surprise."

"Oh no!" There was a collective groan.

"The Great Hall were covered in pink flowers with confetti everywhere. It was horrible. Lockhart suggested at breakfast that people could ask Snape to teach them to make love potions."

James and Sirius snorted with laughter. Lily and Remus exchanged amused smiles.

"He had also organised dwarves to dress up a cupids and carry singing valentines."

"Let me guess, Ginny sends Harry one." James grinned. Hermione nodded. "I got one of those one year, but not from a dwarf."

"Oh yeah, wasn't that the Ravenclaw bird?" Sirius laughed.

"No, she sent me the spiked firewhiskey. The valentine was from Gabrielle Jefferson, Gryffindor. She ended up with Darren Brown" James told him. Hermione almost choked as she imagined Lavender sending Ron a valentine.

"The dwarf caught up with him in a corridor, right in front of Ginny and Draco Malfoy."

The marauders all groaned.

"It ripped his bag as Harry tried to get away. Ink went over everything. The dwarf delivered the valentine and finally let Harry go. Malfoy had picked up the diary."

"Awww, come on 'Mione. You gotta tell us the valentine." James groaned.

"Please." Sirius said, making a pleading, 'puppy' face. She looked at him for a second and then relented.

"**His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, **

**His hair is as dark as a blackboard.**

**I wish he were mine, he's really divine,**

**The hero who conquered the Dark Lord." **Hermione recited with a grin. Everybody roared with laughter. James and Sirius were rolling around on the floor and Remus was holding his sides.

"That's... bloody... brilliant." Sirius gasped through his laughter,

"Anyway," Hermione said in a loud voice, trying to continue. "Malfoy picked up the diary and taunted Harry. Ginny looked horrified and Harry used the disarming spell to get the diary back off Malfoy."

"That's my boy." James beamed, ruffling the baby's hair proudly. Lily scowled at him.

"We finally got to Charms and Harry noticed that, although ink had splashed over all his things, the diary was still clean."

Abruptly everyone stopped laughing.

"That night he put a spot of ink in the diary and it faded away, like the diary was soaking it up. So he wrote his name in it and then more writing emerged, someone was writing back."

"Harry stop now." Remus ordered, looking unnerved.

"Yeah Harry, stop drooling." Sirius addressed the baby, smirking at Remus. "Oh, you didn't mean this Harry?" He asked innocently.

"Idiot." Muttered Lily.

"The writing was from Tom Riddle. He told Harry about when the Chamber had been opened before. He offered to show Harry what happened fifty years ago. Naturally Harry agreed."

"Of course he did." Lily sighed in exasperation. "Who wouldn't agree to go into a random, unknown person's memory of catching the person who is supposedly still hunting muggle-borns at Hogwarts?" Hermione paused. This wasn't really her story to share. But unfortunately it was the main reason they had found out where the Chamber was.

"What is it 'Mione?" Sirius asked, noticing her hesitation. She shook her head and carried on.

"Harry was taken back into a memory. He saw Tom Riddle asking to stay at Hogwarts over the summer holidays but because of the Chamber, the headmaster said he couldn't. He went down to the dungeons where he saw Hagrid keeping a pet acromantula. He framed Hagrid as the heir of Slytherin."

"So that is how he got expelled. The scum bag framed him for his own dirty work?" Remus growled. Hermione nodded weakly.

"Blimey, no wonder Hagrid doesn't talk about it." James said.

"That's awful." Cried McGonagall and Lily.

"We didn't want to believe that it was Hagrid, but given his affection for monsters and believing them not to be dangerous, it was possible." Hermione said sadly. James and Sirius nodded sympathetically.

"He really doesn't help himself sometimes." Lily sighed.

"Well we agreed not to ask him anything unless there was another attack, because they seemed to have stopped. The mandrakes were nearly ready so those petrified would be ok."

"How would they feed the potion to a ghost though?" Sirius enquired. Everyone looked thoughtful.

"I never asked." Hermione said. "A little while later somebody raided Harry's dormitory and stole the diary."

"The heir of Slytherin." Sirius exclaimed.

"But it would have to be a Gryffindor." Lily pointed out. "Nobody else knows the password."

"Oh." Everyone looked worried.

"But no Gryffindor would attack people." James stated.

"Maybe they were made to. The heir threatened them or something." Sirius suggested.

"It's possible." Lily allowed.

"Just before the next Quidditch match, Harry heard the voice again and I worked out what it was, so I ran off to the library."

"Alone?" Asked Sirius, worry on his face. Hermione nodded.

"What was it?" Remus asked.

"I'm sure you will find out." Hermione grinned.

"You're so mean." James complained.

"Unfortunately the match was cancelled, because a Ravenclaw prefect had been attacked. And so had I." Hermione said in a small voice.

"No!" Yelled Sirius and Lily together.

"Another double attack." Remus groaned. McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged worried glances.

"The diary." Muttered James.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"It must be the key to the Chamber. Think about it. The attacks seemed have stopped after Harry found the diary. As soon as it's stolen there is another attack." James explained. Lily looked both horrified and impressed.

"Wow Prongs." Remus said. "You do have a brain." James stuck his tongue out.

"So Harry and Ron went down that evening to talk to Hagrid, under the Invisibility cloak. Before they could ask him anything, someone else knocked so they had to hide. Professor dumbledore came in with Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic." Hermione said the name with distaste.

"That idiot became Minister?" Sirius gaped. Hermione nodded grimly.

"He came to take Hagrid to Azkaban for the attacks."

"What?" Everyone exclaimed in horror.

"But he is innocent." Breathed Lily.

"They have no proof." Growled Sirius.

"Fudge wanted to be seen doing something, he didn't care if it was right or not." Hermione told them flatly. McGonagall narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Then Lucius Malfoy came in saying the governors wanted to suspend Professor Dumbledore."

"WHAT?!" This cry came from McGonagall.

"So give free reign to the heir of Slytherin?" Spat James.

"How many did he threaten and bribe to make them agree?" Sirius asked with a scowl.

"All the others." Hermione told him. Everyone glared. "Anyway, as he left the Professor said '**Help will always be given at Hogwarts, to those who ask for it.'" **

"Helpful advice, as always Professor." Lily grinned.

"And Hagrid told them to follow the spiders." Hermione grimaced.

"Not so helpful, or as pleasant." James shivered.

"This confused the boys. The next day, in Herbology, Harry saw a trail of spiders leading straight into the Forbidden Forest."

"Oh no!" Lily gasped.

"Not again." Groaned McGonagall.

"In DADA, Lockhart was being...well himself and the boys decided to go and follow the spiders that night. The took Fang, and in the Forest they found the old flying car."

"Cool." James exclaimed.

"They got caught by giant spiders and taken to the leader of the colony. The same spider that Hagrid had been raising in the castle all those years ago."

"Oh God. It must be huge by now then." Remus groaned. James looked like he was about to be sick.

"Yes. Hagrid had hidden it in the forest and found it a wife. There is now a huge colony of gigantic spiders in the forest." Hermione informed them. Everybody except Dumbledore shuddered.

"How on earth did they get out alive?" Lily asked.

"It was a friend of Hagrid, maybe it let them go." James said, hopefully.

"Aragog told them that the monster in the castle was one spiders feared above all others and that Aragog himself had been blamed for the death of a girl. Last time a girl had died when the Chamber was opened. Her body was discovered in a bathroom."

"Myrtle!" Gasped Lily.

"Aragog got tired of talking and told all his children to kill Harry and Ron. Thankfully the car came back in time and rescued them."

"Oh thank goodness." McGonagall said. "Those boys have guts." She added, shuddering at the idea of facing hundreds of monster sized spiders.

"They certainly do." Hermione smiled.

"Doesn't everyone?" Sirius asked with a grin. "They are kind of essential to live." Lily hit him with a pillow.

"When they were back in the dormitory, Harry also worked out that the victim was probably Moaning Myrtle. But now the teachers were escorting them to class and they weren't allowed anywhere after class except their common room, so they had no chance to question Myrtle. Until they were being escorted by Lockhart."

"Git." Muttered James.

"Harry and Ron got him to leave them early and so they snuck off to the bathroom, but they got caught by Professor McGonagall. She was about to tell them off when Harry told her they were going to visit me and she let them go."

"Awesome." Sirius and James cried.

"You let them get away with so much more then us." James looked accusingly at McGonagall.

"She did take 150 points off Gryffindor last year." Remus pointed out. "She never did that to us."

"True." Sirius admitted.

"When they came to see me, they found a piece of paper in my hand. Harry got it out and it told them exactly what I had worked out. The monster in the Chamber was a basilisk."

"Of course." Breathed Lily, looked horrified. Remus and McGonagall looked like they might be sick with worry.

"Which is why only Harry could hear it, he was a Parselmouth."

"They kill by looking in the eye. So how was everyone only petrified?" Remus asked.

"Justin saw the monster through Nearly Headless Nick, but as Nick is a ghost he can't die again. Colin Creevey saw it through his camera, the film was burnt but he was only petrified, Mrs Norris only saw its reflection. Myrtle had flooded the bathroom again that night. The Ravenclaw prefect and I had been using a mirror to look around corners because I knew what the monster was now. I warned the first person I saw."

"You were all so lucky. I can't believe that none of you died." McGonagall said.

"I had also realised that it must be using the pipes to get around which is why Harry kept hearing the voice all over the place. It was inside the walls. The boys figured out that the entrance to the Chamber must be in Myrtle's bathroom."

"My son is so damn smart." James said proudly, looking down at Harry.

"And he has really clever friends." Sirius put in.

"So he is just like me then. Smart and has smart friends." James finished.

"Thanks Prongs." Sirius grinned.

"I meant Remus." James shot back quickly. Sirius pouted.

"They decided to go to Professor McGonagall."

"Thank goodness." Said Lily.

"But as they waited in the staff room there was an announcement for everyone to return to the common rooms and all teachers to the staff room."

"Not another attack. Not now." Remus groaned.

"So Harry and Ron hid in the cupboard and listened. Ginny had been taken into the Chamber itself." Hermione told them.

"No!" Gasped McGonagall.

"But she is a pureblood." Sirius pointed out.

"She is only a first year, that poor girl." Lily moaned softly.

"Lockhart came in, and all the Professors told him he should search for the monster because he had been boasting he knew where the chamber was. They just wanted to get rid of him."

"Good riddance" James said.

"So that night, Harry and Ron went to find Lockhart, to tell him exactly where the Chamber was and they found him about to run away. He confessed that he had not done anything in the books, just tracked the people down, got their memories and then wiped their memories, taking all the credit."

There was a collective gasp.

"That's awful." Lily cried.

"How dare he." McGonagall said in disgust.

"He tried to wipe Harry and Ron's memories but Harry disarmed him."

"Go son." James cheered.

"Yes, good one Prongslet." Sirius laughed.

"They took him to the bathroom and Myrtle told them how she died. Harry opened the Chamber and they went down. In the Chamber Lockhart stole Ron's wand by pretending to collapse and then tried again to wipe their memories. But Ron's broken wand backfired and the spell hit himself."

"About time." James and Sirius cried.

"He caused the rock to fall between Harry and Ron so Harry had to go on alone."

"Even his last act is to make Harry's life even more difficult and dangerous." Lily scowled furiously. She huddled closer to James, worried about what was coming next.

"Don't worry Lils, you know he makes it through this alive." James whispered in her ear, even though he was scared himself.

"So Harry went on alone. Ron stayed shifting rock so they could get back through. Harry found Ginny unconscious at the bottom of a statue of Salazar Slytherin. Harry then saw the actual memory of Tom Riddle, becoming more solid by the second. Not quite a ghost, but also not alive."

Lily and Remus shuddered.

"He told Harry that it had been Ginny opening the Chamber."

"No way!" Sirius exclaimed.

"She can't have. That is way beyond a first year." Lily said.

"She is in Gryffindor though." James put in.

"She was possessed by the diary. She had poured out her feelings into the diary and he had written back pretending to be sympathetic. She poured her soul into the diary, and it started putting a bit back. Ginny had realised what was going on and tried to get rid of the diary. Until then Harry found it and Malfoy made it clear that Harry had it. She didn't want it telling him that she was opening the chamber so she stole it back."

Everyone watched Hermione, disgust on their faces as well as horror.

"This is just sick." James said, voicing the thought for everyone. Hermione nodded.

"He then told Harry exactly who he was. Tom Marvolo Riddle can be changed into I am Lord Voldemort. Harry then told him he wasn't the greatest sorcerer in the world and that it was actually Dumbledore."

Dumbledore looked surprised and then he beamed down at the baby in Sirius' lap.

"After he said this Fawkes showed up."

Dumbledore's smile broadened.

"And gave Harry the Sorting Hat."

"What on earth does he need that for?" Asked Remus.

"Riddle then released the basilisk."

Lily gasped and James tightened his arm around her. Sirius had stopped playing with Harry to watch Hermione intently.

"Fawkes punctured the eyes of the basilisk so Harry could now look at it. He also found the Sword of Gryffindor in the Sorting Hat."

"Wow." Gasped Lily, looking up from James' side to gape at Hermione.

"With it, he stabbed the basilisk in the roof of its mouth and killed it."

The room erupted in cheers.

"But the basilisk still managed to pierce his arm with a fang."

The cheering stopped.

"But Fawkes healed him with phoenix tears. He was fine. Harry then stabbed the diary with the basilisk fang and the memory of Riddle vanished. Ginny then woke up."

"Oh thank goodness it's over." Lily said weakly.

"He did it. My son killed a basilisk at the age of 12." James breathed, in the same weak tone as his wife. "And he beat Voldemort again."

"Prongs, your son is the best." Sirius beamed. He and James started a victory dance in the middle of the room while baby Harry clapped his pudgy fists.

"Young Mr Potter is certainly a miracle worker." McGonagall agreed.

"Harry took Ginny back to Ron, who had cleared enough space for them to get through. Fawkes flew them all back up the passage and took them to Professor McGonagall's office. Mr and Mrs Weasley were waiting and were obviously relieved to see Ginny alive. Harry had to explain what had happened. The Weasley's went up to the hospital wing with Ginny, except Ron. Professor McGonagall went to the kitchens to tell the house elves to get a feast ready."

"Awesome." Sirius grinned as his stomach rumbled. The noise made Harry giggle.

"Harry then explained how Lockhart had lost his memory and he got sent to St Mungos. Professor Dumbledore gave Harry and Ron 200 points each for Gryffindor."

James and Sirius let out loud cheers. "Wicked!" THey cried together.

"Honestly, it's like you are encouraging them to get into life threatening situations." Lily sighed, looking at Dumbledore.

"The professor then explained to Harry why he wasn't like Riddle. He had chosen Gryffindor even though he had been told he would do well in Slytherin. He then showed Harry the sword and that it was Gryffindor's. Harry then went down to the feast and Professor Dumbledore wrote to get Hagrid out of Azkaban."

"About time." Remus huffed.

"At that moment Lucius Malfoy came in with Dobby, angry that Professor Dumbledore was back."

"Dobby was Malfoy's elf?" Sirius asked. Hermione nodded.

"Wow." He said.

"He explained that as soon as Ginny had been taken into the Chamber the other governors confessed to being blackmailed and wanted Dumbledore back immediately. Harry then realised why Ginny had had the diary. Malfoy had slipped it inside one of her school books when they met in Diagon Alley."

"The sick bast..." James spat.

"Mr Potter, mind your language!" McGonagall exclaimed loudly, although she looked like she agreed.

"How could anyone do that to an innocent child?" Lily asked, looking horrified.

"That's goddamn awful." Remus growled. Even Dumbledore looked angry.

"Malfoy then left and Harry asked to borrow the diary. He then stuffed it inside his sock and ran after Malfoy. He gave it to him and Malfoy threw the sock away. He saw the diary and got angry. He was about to attack Harry when Dobby stopped him."

"What?" Lily asked. "How could he stand up to his master?"

"The sock." James beamed. "Malfoy threw the sock away, if Dobby caught it then it counts as him being given clothes. Which Harry knew. He was thanking Dobby."

"Awww." Lily cooed.

"Thanking him for what? Getting him locked in his room? Stopping him getting through the barrier? Breaking his arm?" Remus pointed out.

"Harry did make Dobby promise to stop saving his life." Hermione added with a grin.

Everyone chuckled.

"Harry and Ron's points won Gryffindor the house cup again. End of year exams were cancelled as a school treat. Everyone who was petrified came back at the feast. I was delighted to find out Harry and Ron had solved it. Hagrid also came back, his name being cleared."

Everyone cheered at this.

"On the way back Ginny told us that Percy had got a girlfriend so the twins were able to tease him plenty."

"I love those guys." James grinned.

"Harry gave Ron his number so they could talk on a telephone over the summer as well as write."

"Good plan." Lily said.

"He won't be able to use it properly." Remus grinned.

"And that is the end of our second year." Hermione announced.

"Thank goodness. How about a nice peaceful year now?" Lily asked hopefully. Hermione grimaced. This next year was going to be awful. Lily studied her expression and sighed. "I'm guessing not then."

"Actual danger wise it wasn't too bad." Hermione admitted. "No basilisks or giant spiders anyway." She managed to grin.

"No Voldemort possessing people?" James asked.

"Nope, none of that either." Hermione told them. They all looked relieved.

"I think it's food time." Announced Sirius.

"It's always food time to you Padfoot." James told him with a grin.

"True." Sirius admitted, returning the grin.

"You two will be the death of me." Lily groaned, getting up and heading to the kitchen.

"I'm going to put Harry down for a nap." James said, picking up baby Harry. The professor's excused themselves to check on Hogwarts. Hermione sat in her chair thinking about their third year. She would have to take wands away, she decided. Otherwise they might go and find Pettigrew now before they made any plans. Sirius watched her curiously.

"Something wrong 'Mione?" He asked.

"Just thinking about the next year." She told him.

"Is it that bad?" Remus asked.

"Pretty bad." Hermione admitted quietly.

"They can't be in worse danger?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

"It's not so much the danger." Hermione said, though she was talking to herself and didn't mean for Sirius to hear.

"Then what is it?" He asked. She looked up, annoyed with herself.

"You will find out when I tell the story." She said, smiling slightly. Sirius and Remus groaned. Sirius eyed her shrewdly.

"Are we about to find out why Harry couldn't come and live with me?" He asked. Hermione looked startled.

"No." She told him softly. "That doesn't get explained until much later." She added sadly. She missed Harry and Ron. Retelling all their adventures made her miss them more.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, concern on his face.

"I just miss them. Harry, Ron, Ginny, all the other Weasleys." She admitted.

"It must be hard, leaving them behind. I say it again, I definitely see why you are a Gryffindor not a Ravenclaw." Sirius smiled at her. Hermione gave him a weak smile in return. Remus was nodding. Then excused himself to help Lily in the kitchen.

"I just...thinking about everything we did, it makes me miss them more than if I was just separated." SHe muttered sadly.

"The stuff you guys did was unbelievable." Sirius grinned. "I can't believe you three made it alive and not expelled."

"Me either." Smiled Hermione. "We had several close calls."

"You just finished second year and you've already had more than most people do in their whole lives." Sirius pointed out. Hermione chuckled. Sirius smiled to himself. He wasn't tactful the way Remus was and he was happy he had managed to make her smile.

"It's just..I'm worried that my Harry and Ron won't exist anymore. We were all shaped by what we went through. Now neither of them will go through it, so it will just be me. I don't want to be alone." Hermione confessed, a tear trickling down her cheek.

"You will never be alone." Sirius told her firmly. He came over beside her and put his arms around her. "Now we all know what you have been through. I know it's not the same as living it with you, but we do understand. And I doubt Harry and Ron will change too much. A lot of Harry's traits come from his parents, and clearly they aren't going to change." He added with a chuckle.

Hermione gave a weak laugh, which was muffled by the fact that her head was buried in Sirius' shirt.

"As for Ron, well he will still be raised the same way until he is eleven and with Molly as a parent, I can't imagine him turning out much different." Sirius added. He has limited experience with crying girls and normally kept away, but he couldn't help wanting to cheer Hermione up.

"So, third year next." Said James, coming back into the room. He stopped when he saw Hermione's buried in Sirius' shirt. He beamed. His son's friend was very cool and he could see how much Sirius cared about her, even after just a few days. He had never seen his friend like this with a girl. Normally, to Sirius, it was a bit of fun and nothing else. But he truly seemed to care for 'Mione. At that moment, Hermione sat up, having heard James' voice, and blushed.

"Harry asleep then?" She asked. James nodded, still smirking. "Mind if I go and see him?" James shook his head and Hermione left the room.

"Nice one mate." James grinned.

"Shut up. She was crying and I was trying to help." Sirius told him shortly.

"i mean it. You could definitely do a lot worse." James told him. "Especially if she is stuck here. That's got to be hard on her."

"It is." Sirius told him what Hermione had said in an undertone. James looked sympathetic.

"Exactly mate. She needs us. Her real friends are only babies so we will have to take their place."

"What if she doesn't like me?" Sirius murmured. Normally he would never in a million years have confessed to James that he felt this way, but he didn't have many other options. To his credit, James didn't laugh at him.

"Really mate? She just had her face buried in your chest? If she didn't like you I doubt she would be doing that." James told him. Sirius grinned.

"Don't tell Moony. He will never let me hear the end of it." Sirius warned him but James only smirked.

"I make no promises Padfoot." James told him. Sirius glared at him as James went into the kitchen, grinning cheekily. "Hey Moony." He called.

"Shut up!" Sirius hissed.

"Yes Prongs?" Remus called amusement colouring his tone. Sirius suddenly remembered his wolfish hearing and that he now probably already knew what James wanted to say.

"Sirius is in looooooove." James called in a sing song voice.

"Shut up. She might hear you." Sirius growled, he started wrestling with James. They play fought until Lily came in with food.

"Did I hear that correctly Black? You love 'Mione?" Lily asked him with a grin.

"None of your business Potter." Sirius told her.

"Don't be rude. Especially to people who give you food." She warned, holding the food out towards Remus instead.

"You're right, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Sirius cried, reaching for the sandwiches. James and Remus laughed. Hermione came back into the room, looking happier than before.

"Why is Sirius begging for forgiveness?" She asked, now looking amused.

"He was being rude, so I wasn't going to give him food." Lily explained with a grin. Hermione laughed.

"I used to do that to Ron as well." Hermione said. Sirius looked up. Was there more to her and Ron than just friends? No, he was being stupid, he thought. They all ate with gusto and then sat back in their chairs.

"Are we going to start your third year today?" Lily asked Hermione.

"We should. The sooner the better." Hermione told them. They all sat down eagerly.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Prisoner of Azkaban

"So." Hermione began, "Our third year starts with a delightful phone call from Ron to Harry. Needless to say, Ron didn't know how to use it and so ended up yelling down the phone instead of talking normally. Harry said it was like they were yelling at each other from opposite ends of a Quidditch pitch, because his uncle started yelling too."

"Told you he wouldn't be able to use it." Remus said smugly.

"Nobody doubted you Moony." James told him. "But I bet Harry gets in trouble for it." He looked over at Hermione, who nodded.

"Well he got yelled at, but that was pretty good for the Dursleys. When he got home from school they had locked up all his school stuff so he couldn't get his wand, or his homework or anything."

"He will get in loads of trouble if he hasn't done his homework." Groaned James.

"It's ok. I think the Weasley twins taught him lockpicking, because one day he snuck downstairs, while the Dursleys were busy, and nicked some of his things so he could do his work."

"Definitely marauder material." Sirius grinned.

"Soon it was Harry's thirteenth birthday. The first year he gets proper birthday cards and presents."

"Stupid Dursleys." Sirius muttered.

"I got Harry a broomstick servicing kit."

"Wow, 'Mione. Hey guys, why can't you be more like 'Mione. She gets the best presents." James complained, looking round at Sirius and Remus.

"I got you that book on jinxes." Remus told him.

"Oh yeah, that was pretty cool." James admitted. "But still...that sounds awesome."

"Ron got Harry a pocket sneakoscope."

"Those are cool too." Sirius said,

"Pretty useful too. Especially for someone like Harry." Remus put in.

"Hagrid got him a biting book, saying it would be useful for next year."

"Oh Hagrid. It's not good if he thinks a monstrous book will be useful." Lily sighed. "I love Hagrid, but I think his pets have given you three enough trouble for your whole lives."

"I totally agree." Sighed Hermione. "Anyway, Ron's brother Percy had been made Head Boy and he was really happy about that. Ron wasn't quite so happy though." Hermione chuckled to herself. Harry also got his Hogwarts letter, which included his permission slip for Hogsmeade."

"Those idiots had better sign it." Sirius growled.

"Well, Harry was most disappointed to find out when he went down for breakfast on his birthday, that his Aunt Marge was going to be staying with them."

"Urgh!" Exclaimed Lily. "She is worse than Vernon."

"There is worse?" Sirius looked at her incredulously. Lily just nodded sadly.

"The Dursleys hadn't told Marge about Harry being a wizard, so they had told her he attended **St Brutus's' secure centre for incurably criminal boys."**

"They told her what?" Lily looked outraged.

"My son is not a criminal." James cried indignantly.

"How dare they?" Spluttered Sirius.

"Harry told his uncle that if he signed the permission form, he wouldn't tell Marge what he really was."

"That's my boy." James grinned. "Great idea Harry."

"His uncle agreed that if he behaved like a muggle for the whole week, he would sign the form."

"Good job Prongslet." Sirius cooed.

"Marge hated Harry more than the Dursleys. That week was horrible for Harry because she kept throwing out comments about how bad he was and why he was that way. One night he exploded her glass because she insulted Lily."

"Good." James said angrily. "There is nothing wrong with Lily."

"Thank you dear." Lily smiled at him.

"She married you, Prongs, there must be something wrong." Remus grinned.

"Shut it Moony." James replied, sticking his tongue out.

"Other than that he got through, until the night before she left. Marge started insulting both Lily and James, saying there were probably drunks, which was a bit rich seeing how much she had drunk herself, who got themselves killed in a car crash."

The room was silent for a few seconds.

"That bitch!" Exploded Sirius.

"Hypocritical….stupid...how dare she…" Remus was too angry to speak properly. His features became more wolfish and for once, Hermione saw he did actually look scary. James and Lily both looked furious as well.

Even the Professors looked outraged.

"Albus, we should not have left Harry with these people." McGonagall told him sternly.

"I'm sure I have my reasons." He replied, but he looked worried.

"However, Harry then made her swell up like a balloon." Hermione carried on over the noise. Sirius paused in his rant and looked at Hermione.

"What?"

"Harry got so mad that he accidentally caused her to swell up like a balloon." She repeated. The room burst out laughing.

"Great one Harry." Sirius chortled.

"He then decided to run away. He packed up all his stuff and left."

"Oh no. You and Ron are abroad. Where is he going to go?" Lily asked, looking worried.

"Well while he was walking, he decided to bewitch his trunk and fly to London. He was hoping to get to Diagon Alley."

"Good plan." James smiled.

"However, he thought he saw something in the bushes. It appeared to be a big black dog." She smiled. Sirius looked startled.

"It can't be me can it?" He asked.

"Actually, it was you."

"But, if I am there, then why can't I look after Harry?" Sirius asked. Hermione's face darkened. Then she sighed.

"You were supposed to be in Azkaban." Everyone gaped at her. "Sirius became the first person ever to escape." Now they all gaped at Sirius.

"Wow Padfoot." James looked both worried and impressed.

"What did I do?" Sirius asked, he looked nervous. Hermione took a deep breath.

"You supposedly murdered thirteen people with a single curse. Twelve muggles and a wizard." The room was silent.

"What?" Sirius' voice was hoarse. "I would never. Ever." He looked pleadingly at Hermione. "Tell me it wasn't actually me. I was framed right?"

"'Mione did say supposedly." Remus pointed out.

"So it wasn't actually Padfoot then?" James asked. Hermione shook her head. A sigh of relief went around the room.

"So who was it?" Sirius asked. Hermione shook her head again.

"Part of the story. We didn't actually find out Sirius was innocent until the end of our third year, but we all felt that I had to tell you now that it wasn't you. It wouldn't be fair otherwise."

"Thanks." Sirius smiled at her gratefully.

"So, Harry saw the dog and fell over his trunk. As he did, he accidentally called the Knight Bus. He got on and asked to go to The Leaky Cauldron. On the bus he saw a newspaper article that explained about Sirius killing the muggles. He was in Azkaban for twelve years."

Everyone shuddered. Sirius' face was pale.

"He escaped recently though."

"So that's why I was there? Making sure Harry was ok, even if I couldn't actually speak to him?" Sirius asked. Hermione nodded with a smile.

"Thanks Padfoot." James grinned at him.

"Harry told the driver he was Neville Longbottom. He was scared of being caught for underage magic, when he received that warning last year. However Fudge caught him at the Leaky Cauldron."

"He better let Harry off." Growled James.

"He did." Grinned Hermione. "Harry was really confused as to why he wasn't punished. Fudge also refused to sign his Hogsmeade permission form."

"Awww!" Chorused the marauders. "Poor Harry." Groaned James.

"If he is anything like his dad, he will find a way anyway." Remus laughed.

"He better." Sirius chuckled.

"Fudge told Harry to stay in Diagon Alley for the rest of the summer. He got to do his homework. Mr Fortescue gave him free ice creams and helped him with his homework."

"Wow. Lucky kid." Sirius said, practically drooling at the idea of free ice cream.

"Harry also found the new broom out. A **Firebolt. **International standard broom. Harry was drooling over it." She glanced over and James and Sirius were also drooling thinking about it.

"Awesome! I want one." James moaned in longing.

"It doesn't exist yet." Remus told him. Lily smacked him over the head.

"Ow! Hey! What was that for?" James groaned, rubbing the back of his head.

"You were drooling." Lily said and James wiped his mouth, looking embarrassed.

"He also got all his new books. The Monster book Hagrid had sent him, was for Care of Magical Creatures."

"Ohh. So it was actually useful?" Asked Remus. Hermione nodded, smiling fondly.

"On the day before we went back to Hogwarts, Ron and I arrived. Ron's rat, Scabbers," Hermione tried to hide her distaste when she said the name, "Was looking ill and I wanted to get an owl. Instead I ended up with Crookshanks, my cat." Hermione smiled to herself. "Well, half cat, half Kneazle."

"Cool, they are supposed to be really intelligent." Sirius smiled.

"They are." Hermione agreed. "Well, Mr Weasley had got Ministry cars to take us to Kings Cross."

"Why?" Asked Remus, looking confused.

"Well, they wouldn't tell us. However, that night, Harry went back to our table where Ron had left his rat tonic, he had gotten for Scabbers and overheard Mr and Mrs Weasley talking about him. Everybody thought that Sirius had escaped Azkaban to find and kill Harry."

"WHAT?" Sirius roared. "I would never hurt Harry. He is my best friend's son. He is my godson"

"Everyone thought you had become a Death Eater." Hermione informed him sadly.

Sirius looked around the room. "You guys know I would never do that, right?"

"Of course you wouldn't." James said, firmly. "Even if Hermione hadn't said you were innocent, I would believe you."

"Thanks Prongs." Sirius said, gratefully.

"But Harry now thought Sirius was after him."

"Oh great." Sirius said miserably. This was going to be a long year. He desperately hoped Harry liked him in the end. 'Mione said she knew he was innocent. Hopefully Harry believed that too. It was bad enough that James was dead, let alone his godson hating him.

"We found out Dementors were being posted around Hogwarts."

"What?" Dumbledore asked, sharply. "I would never allow Dementors near Hogwarts."

"You did Professor." Hermione told him. "On that cheery thought, we were then off to Hogwarts."

Everyone, except the teachers, cheered loudly.

"Please tell me Mr Potter manages a nice safe journey on the train." McGonagall said.

"Well, it's on the train." Hermione sighed.

"But not safe?" Sirius asked with a groan. Hermione shook her head. Everyone groaned loudly.

"By the time we got on the train, the only compartment left was one with a teacher in it."

"A teacher? They don't usually travel by train. Is it your new DADA teacher?" James asked. Hermione nodded, grinning broadly.

"Who is it?" Remus asked. Hermione looked at him.

"You." She said with a chuckle.

"ME?" Remus asked, astounded. He turned to Dumbledore. "Professor, you must know it's not safe."

"It is just as safe as when you were a student, Remus. I have no doubts that you will be a wonderful teacher." Dumbledore told him with a smile.

"I can't believe we left you alone with your transformations for so long." Sirius looked guiltily at Remus.

"I'm tough. I can handle it." Remus told them. Although, inside, he wasn't so sure.

"There is a potion in our time. Makes the transformation easier. You keep your human mind so you are harmless really. You know not to attack anyone." Hermione said. "Professor Snape makes it."

"How on earth did you bully Snivellus into that?" Sirius asked Dumbledore incredulously. Lily pointed her wand at him threateningly.

"I'm sure I did not need to bully Severus." He said calmly. James and Sirius snorted.

"Anyway, we sat with Professor Lupin," Hermione grinned.

"That has a nice ring to it." Sirius chuckled, smirking at Remus.

"Don't call me that. It makes me feel old."

"Excuse me?" McGonagall and Dumbledore looked at Remus, eyebrows raised. Lily, James and Sirius laughed.

"I didn't mean it like that Professor." Remus mumbled. Their expressions softened and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in amusement.

"Harry told us what he had overheard. And then the train stopped. And a Dementor came on."

"What?" everyone exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah. It was horrible. Thankfully, Remus woke up. Just then the Dementor came in and Harry heard screaming. Then he fainted and Remus sent the Dementor away with a Patronus charm."

"He fainted?" James asked in horror.

"Thank you Remus." Lily said quietly.

"He heard screaming?" Asked Sirius. Everyone was very pale.

"Dementor's make you relive your worst memories. Wait...that means...the screaming...Lily. He was hearing you." Sirius gasped. Lily's face went blank with shock. And then she started crying.

"He remembers that well enough to be his worst memory?" Asked James. HIs voice was hoarse as he held a crying Lily in his arms. Hermione looked pained as she nodded.

"Damn!" Sirius swore. Everyone looked deeply upset. He motioned at Hermione to continue.

"We woke Harry up and remus gave us all some chocolate."

"Thank you Remus." Said James.

"Moony's magical remedy to everything. Chocolate." Sirius said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. Everyone gave a small chuckle.

"He explained what the Dementor was and then left to send an owl. When we arrived at Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall called Harry and me to her office."

"But you haven't done anything." Said Sirius.

"We weren't in trouble." Smiled Hermione. "I was taking too many classes to she had got me a time-turner for class."

McGonagall stared at her. "You must be a very impressive student." She said with a smile.

"Oh my gosh, look James, Minnie is smiling." Sirius whispered. McGonagall turned to him.

"What was that Mr Black?"

"Nothing, nothing." Sirius muttered quickly.

"That's what I thought."

"They just wanted Harry to make sure he was alright. Remus had sent an owl about him." Hermione continued.

"Thank you for taking care of him." Lily said again.

"No worries Lily." Remus smiled at her. He was delighted to finally be a part of Harry's life and to be able to help him even if only a little.

"At the feast Dumbledore introduced Remus and Hagrid, who was our new Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

"Aww!" Chorused Lily and the marauders. McGonagall and Dumbledore smiled. They all knew Hagrid deserved the position.

"OUr first subject the next day was Divination." McGonagall's nostrils flared slightly as Hermione spoke. "It was a disaster. We were doing tea leaves and Professor Trelawney decided to pick Harry to be her student that year who would die. Apparently she picks a different student every year. She saw a grim in his cup."

Sirius and James gasped. McGonagall rolled her eyes and Lily just looked confused.

"Don't worry. It was nonsense. In Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall explained that she picked a new student to die every year and said that if Harry died he wouldn't need to hand his homework in."

Everybody snorted with laughter.

"Only Minnie." Chortled Sirius.

"Then came Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid decided to show us Hippogriffs."

"Cool!" Exclaimed James.

"A little advanced." McGonagall said disapprovingly.

"They aren't that bad as long as you don't insult them." Sirius shrugged.

"Harry got to go first and he got Buckbeak to bow to him. Hagrid then let Harry ride Buckbeak."

"Wow!" Exclaimed Lily.

"He told me he preferred broomsticks." Hermione grinned. Sirius and James whooped and laughed.

"Everything was fine, until Malfoy decided he didn't want to listen to Hagrid. He was talking to Crabbe and Goyle when Hagrid told us not to insult them. So on his turn, he insulted Buckbeak."

Everyone gasped.

"Buckbeak clawed him and Malfoy went to the hospital wing."

"Trust the Malfoy spawn to mess things up. I bet he was listening and did it deliberately." Sirius spat. Hermione nodded, angrily remembering how much trouble that had caused that year.

"Malfoy told his father, who went to the Committee of Dangerous creatures."

"Scumbag." James growled.

"In Potions, later that week, Malfoy was flaunting his injury, using it to get his way. Snape made Harry and Ron cut up Malfoy's ingredients because apparently he couldn't use that arm."

"Nonsense. Madam Pomfrey could fix that up in a second." Remus said, looking outraged.

"Since when has Snivellus been fair to Harry?" Sirius asked bitterly. James looked down at his hands, ashamed, and Lily sighed remembering the man who had once been her friend.

"Malfoy was taunting Harry. Trying to get him to go after Sirius himself."

"Why would Harry go looking for someone he thought wanted to kill him?" Remus asked, confused. Hermione scowled, but said nothing.

"Thankfully, next was DADA."

"Moony's first lesson!" Grinned Sirius and James. Hermione chuckled, remembering how it had gone.

"Yep." She said. "We were doing boggarts. He got Neville to do a demonstration, apparently his fear was Professor Snape."

"Albus. We need to do something if he is a student's worst nightmare." McGonagall told Dumbledore. Dumbledore himself, also looked concerned.

"He then asked Neville to picture his Grandmothers clothes." Remus suddenly realised what his future self was doing and burst into laughter. "Snape came out of the wardrobe,"

Sirius and James glanced at each other and snorted with laughter.

"Where the boggart had been hiding. Neville cast the charm, and it was suddenly Snape in Neville's grandmother's clothes."

Everyone exploded with laughter. James and Sirius, who had met the woman, were rolling on the floor. Even Lily was chuckling. It was a good few minutes before Hermione could continue with the story.

"We carried on taking turns with the boggart, until it reached Harry. Remus stopped it before Harry could have his turn. It then turned into the moon, which most people thought was a crystal ball." Remus snorted at that.

"I bet she figures out that Remus is a werewolf quicker than we did." Sirius muttered to James. James grinned and shook his hand.

"Five galleons?"

"Deal."

"What are you two doing?" Hermione asked. Sirius looked at her innocently.

"Nothing 'Mione."

Hermione snorted. "Yeah right."

"I'm going to go and get Harry up for a little while." Lily announced and left the room.

"Remus, you need to teach and do that to Snivellus." Sirius turned to him with a huge grin. "That's hilarious."

"Yeah, I didn't know you had it in you." James chuckled. The Professor's were watching with smiles.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Prisoner of Azkaban part 2:

A few minutes later Lily came back into the room holding a squirming baby Harry. Sirius immediately stood up and held his arms out. Harry reached forwards towards Sirius, who took him from Lily and sat down with Harry on his knee. Hermione watched the pair with a smile. She saw that Sirius was very good with Harry, patient no matter what. The older versions of the duo had not been together long enough for that relationship to emerge. It had been evident to Hermione that they loved each other, but they spent very little time in each other's company.

"Shall we continue?" Hermione asked.

"Please do 'Mione. I want to get this year over with." Sirius said quickly. She grimaced, and nodded.

"So, after that hilarious DADA lesson, everything was normal for a while. Professor Lupin,"

"Please call me Remus. Professor just sounds too strange at the moment. I haven't been out of school long." Remus grinned.

"Remus, showed us loads of interesting creatures. Potions got worse and worse, Snape was horrible to Neville after the wardrobe incident, which naturally went around the school like wildfire."

"Good. Make everyone laugh at Snivelly." James smiled nastily.

"In Divination, Professor Trelawney was predicting Harry's death pretty much every lesson. Thankfully, soon the Quidditch season started, so that kept Harry busy."

Sirius and James cheered at the mention of Quidditch. Baby Harry gurgled and clapped.

"The first Hogsmeade weekend was set for Halloween, but Harry couldn't go. He did try asking Professor McGonagall for permission."

"He did what?" James asked, looking astonished.

"Your son has guts Prongs." Sirius said, looking awed.

"Or a death wish." James replied with a grin.

"I wouldn't get angry at the boy for asking a simple question." McGonagall glared at them.

"You forget, Harry is a favourite." Remus stage whispered.

"I do not have favourites, Mr Lupin." McGonagall sniffed.

"Well, she didn't give him permission. While we were gone, Remus invited Harry to have a cup of tea with him."

"Aww, thanks Remus." Lily smiled at him warmly.

"My pleasure." He replied, with a grin at baby Harry.

"While they were talking, Snape brought in the potion for Remus at the full moon. Harry thought he was trying to poison Remus."

"The git wouldn't dare." Sirius growled.

"Definitely your son James." Lily sighed.

"To be fair to him, Snape hated Harry first. I'm sure Harry would have had no issues with him if Snape wasn't still holding a grudge against me, so many years later." James pointed out. "Harry only hates him because Snape is so unfair to Harry."

"That evening, we all went back to the Portrait hole, and the painting had been slashed." Hermione swallowed. "By Sirius."

"What?" Sirius yelped, making Harry jump. "Sorry." He said, looking at the small boy in his lap.

"Something must have made you really mad Sirius." James said.

"Wait, how do you know for certain it was me?"

"The Fat Lady told Peeves, who told Professor Dumbledore." Hermione explained.

"Damn. What the hell am I doing?" Sirius growled.

"Professor Dumbledore sent all the students back to the Great Hall to sleep, while the teachers searched the castle. We overheard Snape trying to tell Professor Dumbledore that he thought Remus was helping Sirius into the castle."

"He wouldn't. I would never endanger my students, if I thought Sirius was a killer." Remus said, looking outraged.

"Why would you doubt me?" Sirius said, frowning at him.

"I don't know. It must have been pretty convincing evidence." Remus replied, also frowning. "Things don't add up. We know you wouldn't try and kill Harry, no matter what you had done, so why would you so desperately want to get into Gryffindor tower."

"While the Fat Lady was being fixed," Sirius flinched, "Sir Cadogan became our new portrait entrance."

"The crazy knight up near the Divination room?" Remus asked. Hermione nodded.

"He kept changing the password all the time. Drove everyone mad. To make things worse, Harry found out that the first match of the season would be against Hufflepuff. Apparently Malfoy's arm was too bad to play."

"That's utterly ridiculous. They should either have a sub or play without. When Harry was in the hospital wing first year, they played without him." James protested. McGonagall looked scandalised.

"Albus, we let this happen?" She asked.

"I know you are protective of your house Minerva, but if the boy is too injured to play, they may ask another team to swap." Dumbledore said calmly. McGonagall snorted. James and Sirius were exchanging scowls.

"One DADA lesson, it was just after the full moon, so Remus was too ill to teach and Snape took the lesson. He made it about werewolves, and our homework was two rolls of parchment on how to recognise and kill werewolves."

Everyone looked stunned and horrified.

"That…" Sirius looked too angry for words.

"How dare he. A third year class as well." James growled.

"This is payback for the boggart." Remus spat. Lily looked disappointed and angry. How could Severus stoop so low. She knew the four boys had been downright horrible to him at school, but that was at school. This was years in the future and he still held enough of a grudge to try and let out someone's secret. Sirius suddenly looked ashamed.

"It's my fault. If I hadn't tried to play that stupid trick on him, he wouldn't have known. He wouldn't be able to hold it against you. I'm so sorry Remus."

"Don't worry about it Padfoot. What's done is done. I'm used to it." Remus replied tiredly.

"You shouldn't _have _to be used to it." James burst out angrily.

"I agree Mr Potter, but society disagrees with you. Maybe someday, you will make a difference." Dumbledore told him gravely.

"Well, the whole class protested that he was only a stand-in why should he set us homework. In the end Remus said we didn't have to do it, when he finally came back. However I did it, and it was then I worked out that he was a werewolf."

Sirius grinned triumphantly at James, who sighed and handed over the money.

"But you didn't tell anyone?" Remus asked, his brow creased.

"Of course not." Hermione said quickly. "You were a wonderful teacher and I hate prejudice. Besides, I knew Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have let you teach if there weren't the right precautions in place, so I didn't want to cause you any trouble." She explained.

"I wouldn't." Dumbledore informed her with a smile.

"Thank you Hermione." He said, his voice full of gratitude.

"The Quidditch game was played in a storm. Nobody could see a thing really. Wood had to call for a time out and I put a charm on Harry's glasses so he could see."

"Thanks." James said.

"Then he saw an outline of a black dog in the top row of seats."

"Sirius? You went to his match?" Lily asked in surprise. Hermione nodded. Lily and James threw Sirius grateful looks. Sirius beamed down at his godson.

"However, the Dementors appeared." Dumbledore suddenly looked furious. "Harry heard his mother's voice." Lily paled and James looked horrified. "And Voldemort's. Then he fell off his broom."

There was a collective gasp of horror.

"Thankfully, Professor Dumbledore managed to slow him down and get him onto a stretcher to the hospital wing." Everyone shot grateful looks at the Professor. "His broom hit the Whomping Willow."

Everyone groaned. Including McGonagall.

"Diggory got the snitch. He did try to call a replay, but Hufflepuff were said to win anyway."

James and Sirius groaned even louder.

"Harry had to stay in the hospital wing all weekend, Ginny got him a get well card." Hermione added with a grin. "In our next DADA lesson, when everyone complained about the homework, Remus asked Harry to stay behind. Harry asked him for help fighting the Dementors and Remus agreed."

"Harry is lucky to have you around Remus." Lily smiled gratefully. Remus beamed. He loved being able to help Harry.

"There was another Hogsmeade visit just before christmas, and while he was wandering the corridor, the twins showed up. They gave him an old, worn piece of blank parchment." Hermione smirked, looking knowingly at James, who gasped. "It was a magical map."

"He got that too!" Sirius grinned delightedly. "Finally, he can go to Hogsmeade."

"What map?" McGonagall asked sharply, raising an eyebrow. The boys all exchanged looks, and then shrugged. Clearly they would find out, if Harry got it.

"When we were at Hogwarts, we explored a lot and made a magical map that showed were every single person was."

"That explains an awful lot." McGonagall sighed.

"So Harry used a passageway to sneak into Hogsmeade, where he met Ron and I in Honeydukes." Hermione continued.

"Atta boy." Cheered James and Sirius. Lily looked torn between amusement and exasperation.

"I did try to convince Harry to hand the map in."

"Very sensible Miss…" McGonagall was cut of by howls from James and Sirius.

"How could you 'Mione" They both cried.

"Traitor." James whimpered.

"I thought you were one of us." Sirius groaned.

"But Ron and Harry convinced me to drop it." Now the groans turned to cheers. McGonagall just shook her head. "We went to the Three Broomsticks for Butterbeer. Unfortunately some teachers came in with the Minister for Magic, so Harry had to duck under the table to hide."

"Can't catch a break." Remus sighed. Hermione shook her head.

"We overheard them talking about Sirius." The effect was immediate. The cheers and moans were silenced and everyone was watching Hermione intently. Except Sirius, he was looking down at his hands.

"Just get it over with Hermione." James said through gritted teeth.

"They said that Professor Dumbledore had got advanced warning of Voldemort's attack. He hid Lily and James with the Fidelius charm and Sirius was secret keeper. Less than a week later he attacked."

Sirius' head snapped up. "But I...I would never."

James and Lily were pale. "But if you were the secret keeper…" James voice tailed off.

"He must have tortured me. I can't see myself giving up but I don't know. I can tell you this for certain. I would never, ever willingly join the dark side, or betray either of you." Sirius said fervently. Nobody could doubt the burning emotion in his eyes.

"Apparently, Sirius turned up at the house after the attack. Tried to take Harry but Hagrid said Professor Dumbledore had given him orders. So he lent Hagrid the motorbike and left. Afterwards, Peter tracked Sirius down. That's when the street got blown apart and Sirius charged with murder."

"That doesn't add up. If Sirius had joined the dark side, he wouldn't aid Hagrid getting Harry out of trouble. I seriously can't see Peter tracking down Sirius no matter how grief stricken he was. He knows Sirius is no match for him in a duel." Remus said, his face grim.

"They were also talking about the fact that Sirius seemed reasonably normal in Azkaban. One time the Minister visited he asked him for a newspaper because he missed doing the crossword."

"I do love those crossword puzzles." Sirius tried to grin but it came out as more of a grimace.

"That's also how Harry found out that Sirius is his godfather. Soon after that, the teachers left so Harry ran straight back to Hogwarts and wouldn't talk to Ron and me. He didn't get up until really late the next day either, I was about to send Ron up to the dormitories looking for him."

Everyone exchanged worried glances. Sirius knew that after hearing something like that, Harry would hate him. That hurt. Much more than Sirius cared to admit. Here was Hermione telling him that he lost everything in his future. His best friends, half his life, his godson. And now his godson would hate him? That was too much. A single tear rolled down his cheek. Everyone looked at him in surprise. They hadn't seen Sirius cry before, not even when he ran away his parents house. Hermione walked over and gave him a hug. He drew strength from her embrace, wiped away the tear and gave them all a sad smile.

"Let's continue and get this damn year over with." He said in a croaky voice. Hermione stayed, sat next to him and carried on talking.

"Ron and I had to argue with him not to go looking for Sirius, as Malfoy had taunted him too. Thankfully he agreed not to, instead he wanted to go down to Hagrid's and demand to know why he hadn't told Harry about Sirius."

She felt Sirius flinch beside her. Nobody even told Harry that he was Sirius' godson. He found out in the worst possible way. He desperately wanted to know what had possessed Peter to track him down. Did he value James and Lily that much, or was he that hurt by Sirius' apparent betrayal.

"When we got to Hagrid's he was crying because Buckbeak had to go before the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."

"He won't get off. Not if he attacked a Malfoy." Remus shook his head in sorrow. An innocent beast to be killed because he was provoked by an important person's son. It was disgusting.

"All three of us volunteered to help Hagrid prepare his case." Dumbledore smiled at her warmly. "This visit made Harry forget about Sirius and we spent all our free time before Christmas trying to look for something to help Hagrid."

"You three are such good friends." James smiled.

"Then it was Christmas, and Harry got a firebolt."

"The International standard broom?" James asked, his mouth open. Hermione nodded.

"AWESOME!" He and Sirius cheered. Even McGonagall smiled.

"Who sent it?" Lily asked.

"There was no note." Lily immediately looked at Sirius.

"Could it have been you?"

"Maybe. But I'm on the run, I can hardly walk into a store and buy a broomstick." Sirius said.

"That's almost exactly what Ron and I said. I said it was probably sent by Sirius and Ron said he can't walk into a shop and buy one." Hermione laughed.

"Nice." Lily smiled.

"I was a bit suspicious of it but then Crookshanks attacked Ron's rat Scabbers. I had to take Crookshanks out."

Remus' eyes bugged out. Ron's rat. Peter tracking down Sirius and Sirius' sudden desperation to get into the Gryffindor dormitory. But it made no sense. Sirius had no way of knowing that Scabbers was Peter, or even if he was. It might be a normal rat, there were plenty. Also, why would Sirius want to kill him? However, he had a feeling that Scabbers may not be a normal rat. Hermione had said her cat was half Kneazle, they were very intelligent and highly suspicious animals. He chanced a glance at James and Sirius but neither of them seemed to have made a connection.

"Christmas dinner was amazing. Unfortunately Remus was sick again, so he missed it."

"I missed Christmas dinner? Damn. I love the chocolate pudding." Remus complained. Hermione suddenly looked sheepish.

"After dinner, the boys went back upstairs and I told Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. I still thought it was from Sirius and that he might have jinxed it." SHe said this in such a rush it was hard to pick out the words. She smiled apologetically at Sirius, who just rolled his eyes.

"Good to know you have such a high opinion of me." He joked.

"I hold you in the highest esteem." She assured him. "As I do all of you."

"Did you have to add that? I was feeling special." Sirius pouted.

"You are very special Padfoot. Very special indeed." James said with a wink.

"Hey!" Sirius complained. "What is this? Pick on Sirius day? You still love me don't you Harry?" He asked the baby on his knee. Harry just looked at him and gurgled happily. "I shall take that as a yes."

"Pick on Sirius day? I like the sound of that. We should make it an official day." Remus grinned.

"I thought it already was. It's every day." Sirius grumbled.

"Don't worry. I still like you." Hermione stage whispered.

"See? Hermione has only been here a couple of days and she is already a nicer friend." Sirius told James and Remus. They both chortled.

"A _very _special friend." They said in unison. Sirius flushed slightly and Hermione giggled.

"As interesting as your antics are, could we continue the story?" McGonagall asked, though she had an amused smile on her face.

"Professor McGonagall went up the common room and confiscated the Firebolt to it could be checked."

"Professor!" James cried in outrage.

"I am looking out for my students safety Mr Potter." She said sternly. She was no happier about confiscating it than James was, but she would never risk her students health for Quidditch.

"After Christmas Harry reminded Remus about Dementor lessons. He agreed and he found a Boggart to practise on."

"Great idea Moony." James said.

"The first two attempts went badly. Harry started hearing James' voice as well. He pretty much got a replay of that night." Hermione's voice was hushed. "On his third try he managed to produce something."

"Only his third try? That's really impressive." Remus said. "Especially under pressure. When we learnt, we just tried producing a Patronus, without the Dementor there."

"My son is awesome." James said, ruffling Harry's hair.

"After one lesson, Harry decided to ask Remus what was under a Dementor's hood. Remus told him that they had been given permission to kiss Sirius on sight." Sirius paled. His hands were suddenly clammy and he wiped them on his trousers. When he left he bumped into Professor McGonagall who gave him his Firebolt back. Nothing wrong with it."

"WHOO!" Yelled James. He did a kind of celebratory dance around the room. It was a few minutes before Lily could calm him down and motioned for Hermione to continue.

"He came back to the common room and Ron offered to take the broom upstairs. When he came back down the bedsheet was covered in blood, Scabbers was gone and there were some of Crookshanks' hairs on the sheet. Ron was so angry he wouldn't talk to me. Harry sided with him, that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers. I said the hairs had probably been there since Christmas and he had no proof, but we didn't speak anyway. I spent a lot of time down at Hagrids. Everyone told Rob that Scabbers had been lazy and useless but he didn't listen."

"Sounds like someone we know." James chuckled. Remus' face darkened. If Peter was innocent, why would he spent so long pretending to be the Weasley's pet rat? He couldn't be positive it was Peter, but it sure seemed that way.

"Then was Harry's next Quidditch match. They were playing Ravenclaw. During the match Malfoy and his friends dressed up as Dementors to sabotage Harry."

"What?" Gasped, Sirius, James, Lily and McGonagall.

"How dare they!" Spluttered McGonagall.

"Filthy cheating scum." Hissed James.

"Damn Slytherins." Sirius growled.

"Harry just produced a patronus and caught the snitch."

"GO HARRY!" Yelled James and Sirius. Little Harry looked up at his name and gurgled some more.

"When he landed Remus pointed out that they were Slytherins not actual Dementors and Professor McGonagall was yelling at them about reporting them to Professor Dumbledore."

"Too right I was." McGonagall huffed angrily.

"The after party was loud and fun, but Ron was making comments about what sweets Scabbers used to like." Sirius growled.

"What an idiot."

"That night Ron was woken up by Sirius. As soon as Ron yelled he ran."

"How on Earth did he get in the Portrait hole?" McGonagall asked. Remus was now convinced that Scabbers was Peter. Why else would Sirius be at Ron's bed? But he had no idea how Sirius could possibly know that Scabbers was Peter, especially if he had been in Azkaban.

"Well, Sir Cadogan kept changing the passwords. So Neville had got him to tell him the passwords so he could write them down. Then he lost the parchment." Everyone groaned. Poor Neville. "Ron took great delight in all the attention he was getting. Retelling the story so that it got so ridiculous I couldn't stand hearing it. Hagrid invited the two down for tea where he told them to stop ignoring me."

"They shouldn't need telling. You didn't do anything wrong." James said. Sirius was glaring at the floor.

"Ron then convinced Harry to go to Hogsmeade with him."

"After the fact that Sirius got into the tower?" Remus asked in shock.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius barked.

"Well from their point of view, they still think you are after Harry. If you could get into Gryffindor tower it's very dangerous for Harry to be out in Hogsmeade." Remus explained.

"Apparently no more dangerous that Hogwarts. At least in Hogsmeade he would be in the middle of a crowd." James pointed out.

"Harry did take the cloak."

"Good boy." Sirius smiled.

"Everything went smoothly until they met Malfoy by the Shrieking Shack."

"Of course the Malfoy spawn ruined everything." James groaned.

"Well, he was having a bit of fun. Using the cloak to throw mud at Malfoy and his friends because they couldn't see him." Lily rolled her eyes but James and Sirius cackled evilly. "Until he tried to trip up Crabbe, who dragged the cloak of Harry's head by accident. Malfoy saw his head and ran off. Harry had to get back to Hogwarts quickly, but got caught almost straight out of the passageway by Snape."

"No! Not him!" James groaned. "Harry is so dead."

"He took him back to his office where Harry made up that the Zonko's products had been bought by Ron last visit. But then Snape started talking about James to provoke Harry into confessing." James ground his teeth angrily. "Harry got mad but didn't actually give himself away. Snape then told Harry that James had only saved Snape to stop himself getting expelled. That he was part of the joke and got cold feet, just wanting to save his own skin."

"That little…" Sirius burst out angrily. "I'm going to kill him."

James had gone red. "I saved him because not even Snivelly deserves to die. I did it so my friend wouldn't have to become a killer. I'm starting to regret I even bothered for his sake."

"James!" Said Lily.

"What? He evens hates me when I do something decent for him. I don't expect him to let it go, but he has absolutely no right to take it out on my son. Or to tell my son lies about what happened to make me look bad."

"You're right." Lily sighed. The Severus she knew might as well have been dead.

"Snape got Harry to turn out his pockets and saw the map. It wasn't active but he knew it was magical because Harry wouldn't let him throw it away. He tried to open it."

The three Marauders just grinned at each other.

"It threw out some insults." They were now laughing.

"What did it say?" Sirius asked.

"I can't remember. I think Harry said Wormtail had said to wash his hair the greasy slimeball. Prongs called him an ugly git. I don't know what else."

"That is so you Prongs." Sirius laughed.

"He then called Remus into his office. He obviously recognised the map. Snape tried to say he thought Harry had got it from the manufacturers."

"He thinks Remus gave Harry the map?" James asked. Hermione nodded.

"I think that's what he thought anyway. Remus told him it must have been a Zonko's product. Then Ron came in saying he bought Harry the stuff and Remus said he wanted to talk to him about the essay he set as homework."

"Thanks Remus." James said. "Nice cover up."

"Anytime." Remus grinned.

"Well, Remus took the map off Harry and said it was a poor way to repay his parents for their sacrifice, by throwing it away for some magic tricks."

"Ouch. Bit below the belt there Remus." James said, flinching.

"Yeah. I guess I thought that would probably be the only thing to keep Harry wandering off. I'm just trying to keep him safe." Remus said. James nodded.

"I'm truly grateful for that."

"Me too." Lily smiled at him.

"They then ran into me. Hagrid had just sent me a letter saying Buckbeak was going to be executed. Although over that, Ron and I made up."

"Good." Smiled Remus.

"After one Care of Magical Creatures lesson, we heard Malfoy gloating, and calling Hagrid pathetic. So I slapped him."

Everyone looked at her in astonishment.

"Damn girl. Remind me not to make you made." James grinned her.

"Atta girl." Sirius laughed, and kissed her on the cheek. They both blushed as James and Remus wolf whistled.

"Then I got so distracted, tired from not sleeping well and being overworked, I missed Charms. I completely forgot we had a lesson. I fell asleep in the common room. In Divination I got so fed up of Professor Trelawney predicting Harry's death and seeing the grim I just got up and walked out."

"Wow 'Mione." Sirius and James were looking at her in awe. Remus and Lily looked slightly disapproving but sympathetic none the less.

"Then came the Quidditch final." Everyone looked up with even more interest. "Gryffindor took a really early lead. Thirty-Zero after a few minutes."

Cheers rang around the room.

"The Slytherins started playing even more dirty than usual. One of their beaters hit Alicia with his bat, so George Weasley elbowed him in the face. Then the beaters hit both bludgers at Wood."

James and Sirius were spluttering with outrage. Even McGonagall looked horrified and angry.

"Harry saw the snitch but Malfoy grabbed the end of his broom and was pulling him back."

"WHAT!?" Yelled James and McGonagall.

"I hate this kid." Remus muttered.

"In the end Harry caught the snitch, and Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup."

The room exploded with cheers. James, Sirius and McGonagall were whooping and beaming. The first two doing a celebratory dance around the room, which they dragged Remus into. Even Dumbledore was beaming.

"Shall we take a break and have some food?" Lily asked. The boys all nodded vigorously.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: End of the Prisoner of Azkaban

Lily went out to make sandwiches. Hermione and Remus were playing peek-a-boo with Harry. Both Professors were watching in amusement. James was talking to Sirius about ideas for getting back at Snape, making sure Lily and the Professors couldn't hear them. They were interrupted by a loud growl from Sirius' stomach.

"I'm coming Black." LIly called in amusement.

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked.

"Only your stomach could make that kind of noise even though it hasn't been that long since we last ate." Lily told him, coming in with a plate full of all kinds of sandwiches. Sirius grinned while everyone laughed. She offered the plate to Hermione first and then the professors.

"Why do we always go last?" James grumbled.

"Because the other guests want food too James. If I gave it to you and Sirius first, nobody else would get any."

"We aren't 'at 'ad 'ily." Sirius said through a mouthful of food. She just shook her head at him.

"You are that bad and you know it Padfoot." Remus said with a grin. Sirius pouted.

"Ron used to, no, will do the same thing. Time travel messes with you head." Hermione said. "He might be even worse to be honest."

"Worse than Padfoot? No way." James said. Hermione just nodded with a smile in Sirius' direction. Soon everyone had finished eating and they resumed their seats, waiting for Hermione to continue the story. She took her seat next to Sirius again because she knew this next bit would be difficult.

"Before we begin, all of you are putting your wands on the table. Nobody is allowed to touch them until I say so. No cursing anyone involved in the story either." Everyone looked at her with a mixture of worry and confusion. Remus had further proof that it was Peter acting as Scabbers. He was involved in Lily and James' deaths somehow. It must be why he wasn't here listening to the story. He was saddened for the loss of his friend, but decided against saying anything, in the faint hope that he could still be wrong.

They all got up and put their wands on the table in front of Hermione. She smiled and nodded.

"Right, well, after the Quidditch final exams season started. We also found out that Buckbeak's appeal would be the day we finished our exams. Remus' exam was really interesting. He put together a kind of obstacle course with all the dark creatures we had studied that year. Harry aced it. No trouble at all."

"What about you?" Sirius asked. Hermione blushed.

"I failed at the last thing which was a Boggart. It turned into Professor McGonagall,"

"Well that is pretty scary." James stage whispered. McGonagall looked slightly offended but glared at James all the same.

"...Telling me I had failed everything." Hermione continued.

"Oh. Like you would fail everything 'Mione. You are super smart." Sirius told her. She smiled at him.

"As we were walking back to the castle after the DADA exam, we met the Minister for Magic who was coming to the appeal and to check on castle security." Sirius winced. "We saw that an executioner was being brought to the appeal."

"But that makes it seem like they have already decided." Lily frowned.

"They had. The executioner was on the Committee and an old friend on Malfoy Sr." Hermione scowled. "In Harry's divination exam Professor Trelawney ended with a real prediction. She said that that night one of the Dark Lord's servants would break free and join him, helping him to rise again."

There were collective gasps of horror and worried looks exchanged around the room.

"Straight away we found out that Buckbeak had lost the appeal so we decided to go down and visit Hagrid. While we were there we found Scabbers in one of Hagrid's milk jugs. Scabbers kept fighting Ron so we couldn't get away quickly enough and we heard the execution. Finally he bit Ron and ran away."

"So you three go chasing him across the grounds at night?" Lily groaned. Hermione smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Great." Sighed James. "I wish my son hadn't inherited so much of my adventurous spirit. He seems to have enough trouble anyway."

"We chased Scabbers to the Whomping Willow where we were attacked by a giant dog. It dragged Ron and Scabbers down a secret tunnel."

Sirius buried his face in his hands. Hermione put an arm around him. She remembered this night as clearly as if it were yesterday. She didn't need notes for this one.

"This is where Harry finally meets me isn't it?" He mumbled into his hands.

"Yes." Hermione told him. "Harry and I chased after them."

"How did you get in? You can't have known about the knot on the trunk." Remus said.

"Crookshanks. He knew Sirius. He pressed the knot for us." Hermione explained. "So we found ourselves in the Shrieking Shack. When we got upstairs, Ron had a broken leg and Sirius was there in human form. And I'm very sorry to say, Sirius you looked terrible. Your hair was really long and filthy."

Sirius looked up in horror. "My poor hair!" He gasped, running his hands through it, as if to check it was still normal.

"In fact, Harry confessed afterwards he compared you to a vampire with bad hair." She winked at the others as she said this. They were all laughing, but Sirius got up and dashed off to the mirror in the bathroom.

"Nice distraction for him Hermione." Remus grinned. Sirius came back in, looking slightly more relaxed.

"It's ok. I look fine." He muttered to himself. he sat back down next to Hermione.

"Sirius disarmed us with ron's wand. Then he made the mistake of mentioning James to Harry, who thought that Sirius had led to their deaths. So Harry jumped at him without his wand. Apparently he wanted to try muggle wrestling with Sirius."

Lily looked worried but Remus was trying not to laugh as he pictured a small version of James trying to beat up a fully grown Sirius. James was too busy worrying about how much this affected Harry to find anything funny.

"He did get a punch in. Finally, Harry picked up the wands. He was pointing his wand at Sirius, when Crookshanks came and sat on Sirius' chest."

"Thanks kitty." Sirius murmured.

"Yeah, that cat liked you more than me." Hermione grumbled.

"It's my natural charm." Sirius tried for a grin. He still looked anxious. It broke his heart that his godson even dreamed Sirius would betray Lily and James. He would die before that happened.

"Harry never told us why, but something stopped him cursing Sirius that night. He just stood there, frozen, until we heard more footsteps. Remus came up and disarmed everyone again. Then he just asked Sirius where somebody was. He pointed at Ron and then Remus helped him up. Obviously all of us were really confused."

"I should have explained before doing that." Remus groaned. James suddenly put the pieces together and growled.

"Thanks Remus." Sirius smiled gratefully. "For believing me."

"You're welcome. I'm just sorry it seems like it took me way too long."

"We now all thought Remus had been helping Sirius, so I told Harry and Ron that he was a werewolf." Hermione admitted, shamefaced. She refused to meet Remus' gaze. "I am sorry about that Remus."

"Nothing to apologise for." He told her.

"There is. I used that like a curse and to say you weren't trustworthy. That was very wrong of me." Remus beamed at her.

"I assure you, I very much doubt my future self would hold it against you."

"Anyway, Remus then proceeded to give us all our wands back and tell us your story."

"Yes, how are you an animagi Mr Black?" McGonagall asked, as if this had only just occurred to her. The boys all glanced at each other.

"They did it for me Professor." Remus said. Then he began to tell McGonagall and Dumbledore about their school adventures.

"Well... I must say... In my school and I didn't know." McGonagall blustered. "Unregistered, honestly boys." They all looked at her cautiously.

"It was a very dangerous thing to do, but a very worthy cause." Dumbledore put in, glancing at Remus. "As they have finished school Minerva, we shall let this bout of troublemaking go."

"Albus, this is the law, not just school rules." She said.

"Minnie, you wouldn't turn us in?" Sirius asked, with puppy eyes.

"Of course not Sirius, but I don't want you getting yourself into far worse trouble than school." Sirius just stared at her.

"Werent we just talking about Sirius being on the run, after escaping Azkaban after being falsely accused of murder. I think that counts as trouble." Lily pointed out.

"Thanks for the reminder Lils." Sirius groaned.

"And Miss Granger has come back to stop these terrible events. Not get him thrown in Azkaban for another reason."

"We won't get caught." James said, flashing a winning smile.

"On your head be it." McGonagall sighed.

"So, back to the story." Hermione interrupted. "Remus told us that Peter Pettigrew was an animagus. His form was a rat. Scabbers was that rat."

Everyone except Remus and James, gasped.

"That's why Sirius was so determined to get into Gryffindor tower?" McGonagall asked. Hermione nodded.

"None of us believed him at first. Part way through the story Professor Snape came in, hidden under the cloak we had left by the tree."

"Didn't you learn from first year, not to leave that cloak behind." James groaned. "It will take forever to get the Snivelly grease off it."

"James!" Lily said sharply. He put his hands up in mock surrender.

"Snape refused to listen to us. He tied up Remus and had his wand pointed at Sirius before we could do anything. All he wanted to do was take Remus and Sirius to the Dementors."

"No!" Lily gasped. "He wouldn't." Hermione just looked at her sympathetically.

"I'm going to murder him." James growled. "This is taking a schoolboy grudge too far. That's worse than death." Dumbledore was shaking his head sadly.

"Apparently we were too gentle with Snivelly in school." Sirius hissed. Remus looked furious as well.

"Before Snape could go anywhere, Harry blocked the doorway. He called Snape pathetic for holding onto the grudge."

"Like father like son." James smiled proudly.

"Then, before Snape could raise his wand, Harry tried to disarm him. Unfortunately, Ron and I tried at the same time so we knocked him out."

"Well done!" Sirius smiled.

"Thank you." Remus said gently.

"Attacking a teacher." McGonagall frowned in disapproval. "But in this situation, I think it was warranted." Everyone stared at her as if she had grown a third head.

"Sirius then told us that he knew Scabbers was Pettigrew because of a picture of Ron's family that had been in the Daily Prophet Fudge had given him in Azkaban. When Sirius and Peter were in the street, Peter faked his own death, by cutting off a finger and transforming. So Sirius recognised the missing finger on the rat."

"Wow Sirius. I didn't know you could work things like that out." Lily grinned at him.

"Hey!" He pouted.

"Sirius then explained how he had convinced Lily and James to use Peter as secret keeper, instead of him. Nobody would suspect that."

"So the little runt officially did betray us?" James growled. Fury colouring his face red. Sirius's hand twitched, as if going for his wand before remembering it wasn't there.

"How could he?" Lily said in a small voice. McGonagall looked shocked and horrified. Remus was also looking furious. It was one thing for him to suspect it, quite another to hear it stated in cold, hard fact. Sirius was just sat in stunned bewilderment. Not only had Peter betrayed Lily and James, he had bested Sirius. Managing to escape when Sirius cornered him, and get Sirius blamed for blowing up the street. He killed one marauder, blamed another for it, therefore leaving the third completely alone. The watery little baby Peter, had completely destroyed the marauders. Who knew he had it in him. He rose, his whole body shaking with anger.

"Sirius. Sit."

"He completely destroyed all of our lives 'Mione. I'm not just going to sit here knowing the little scum is alive." Sirius' breathing had become ragged, his face red. Suddenly Remus was standing as well.

"You have to. You got into this mess because you did something rash. Don't do it this time around. I want to change things. Not watch history repeat itself." Hermione begged, nearly in tears. This, more than anything, brought Sirius back to himself. He sat down again and held her tightly.

"Don't worry 'Mione. We won't let things repeat themselves. Not after how much you sacrificed to come here. We will make it work and we will make it better." He assured her.

"We will. Don't worry." James echoed. Lily and Remus said the same, pulling together in a group hug with Hermione buried in the middle. When they finally broke apart, Sirius gently brushed a single tear from Hermione's cheek with his thumb.

"Everything will work out." He told her quietly. She nodded and cleared her throat.

"Sirius and Remus then used a spell to make Peter reveal his true form. He still tried to claim that Sirius was the spy and he was the one who betrayed the Potters. Sirius told us how he escaped Azkaban by becoming a dog and slipping through the bars. His determination to get to Peter giving him a burning obsession. He knew Peter was with Ron, who would be returning to Hogwarts, where Harry was."

"Thank you Sirius. For protecting my son. And you Remus." James said fervently. They both nodded and smiled. Remus picked up the baby Harry.

"When Sirius told Harry that he flew as well as James had done, Harry finally believed him."

Sirius let out a sigh of relief. Maybe he could have a relationship with his godson after all. He could be there for him as well as there for Remus.

"They were both about to kill him, when Harry stopped them."

"What?" Sirius asked in shock. "He just found out the scum was responsible for his parents deaths?"

"He said he reckoned his dad wouldn't want his two best friends to become killers." Remus and Sirius looked at James.

"On the surface, right now, I would totally say go for it and kill the bastard. But deep down, Harry is right. I don't want you two to become killers for that piece of filth. He isn't worth it." James said slowly. Hermione beamed at him and Lily kissed his cheek.

"Wow. You almost sounded mature James." Lily smiled.

"I grew up. I grew up for you Lily." He said.

"I know. And I love you for that." She told him.

"Harry also argued that if they killed Peter, the truth would die with him. They needed him alive to clear Sirius' name."

"True. That is a good enough reason to keep it alive I suppose." Sirius said.

"So, Remus and Ron chained themselves on either side of Peter. Sirius levitated Snape and we left. On the way down the passage, Sirius asked Harry if he wanted to come and live with him once his name was clear."

"Brilliant. Thanks Padfoot." James beamed. Sirius just smiled at him.

"It would be my pleasure."

"Harry agreed instantly."

"Albus. We can't leave the boy there. We have already heard they are horrible, but the fact that he would rather live with a man he just met, that an hour before he thought was a killer, over his own family. That isn't healthy." McGonagall said. Dumbledore sighed.

"I know Minerva, but I think I must have put an enchantment on Harry. As long as he calls Privet Drive home he won't be found by Voldemort."

"Then we had a problem." Everyone groaned. "It was a full moon, and Remus hadn't taken his potion."

"Oh god no." Remus breathed, his face turned deathly pale.

"In the confusion while Remus was transforming, Peter transformed and escaped. Sirius also transformed and held Remus off, chasing him away into the forest. Then he went to try and find Peter, leaving me and Harry there. ron was unconscious, knocked out by Peter, who used Remus' wand and Snape was still knocked out as well."

"Thanks Sirius." Remus said, turning to his friend gratefully.

"Yes, we would have been in trouble without Sirius with us." Hermione smiled at him.

"Naturally." Sirius grinned, puffing his chest out.

"We then heard a dog whining so Harry raced off to help. I went with him but there were at least a hundred Dementors. I passed out and Harry was trying to hold them off. In the end he saw a figure across the lake who got rid of the Dementors."

"Must be a very powerful wizard." Remus whistled.

"He was." Hermione smiled. "Next thing we knew, Harry and I woke up in the Hospital wing. Snape had found us and brought us all back. Sirius was locked up to await Fudge and Dementors. Fudge came in, trying to sooth Harry by telling him they had caught Sirius, which then made him mad. He tried to tell them the story, but without Peter, it was pretty unbelievable. Remus was still in the forest."

"My word would count for next to nothing." Remus sighed. "Me being a friend of Sirius and a werewolf. No chance there."

"Professor Dumbledore believed Sirius and sent everyone away so he could talk to Harry and I. He pointed out that we had no evidence and our word wouldn't count for much. He told me to use my time-turner, maybe more than one life could be spared."

"Buckbeak!" Gasped Lily. Hermione nodded.

"Harry went back with me, so I had to explain what it was and why I had a time-turner. Harry decided we should rescue Buckbeak then fly him up to where Sirius was being kept and let them escape together."

"Wow. That could go seriously wrong." Lily breathed, looking worried.

"We didn't have a lot of choice if we wanted to stop Sirius being kissed. There was no other way to get him out of the room."

"You would risk all that, for me, someone you only just met?" Sirius asked, his face a mask of shock.

"In a heartbeat." Hermione told him. Sirius couldn't even reply, but his face showed his gratitude. "Well, we got Buckbeak away easily enough. I did have to stop Harry charging into Hagrid's cabin to get Peter."

"No, he needed to be there to prove us right in the Shack." Sirius said.

"And he couldn't be seen by anyone." Remus pointed out.

"Then we just waited for us all to come back out of the Willow. Of course we then had to move, because Remus would be running right at us when Sirius chased him away. We hid in Hagrid's hut after he left and waited some more. We couldn't see so Harry went outside to keep watch. Early, Harry had thought it was his father casting the Patronus."

"Impossible." James said sadly.

"Yes. He had actually seen himself."

"What? Harry, a thirteen year old wizard, made about a hundred Dementors go away on his own?" Remus asked, looking awed. Hermione nodded.

"Bloody hell Prongs. Your son is seriously powerful." Sirius said.

"I know." James smiled proudly.

"His Patronus is a stag." Hermione said softly.

"Really?" James asked. Hermione nodded and he teared up a little.

"When we saw someone coming out to get a Dementor for Sirius, we flew Buckbeak up to the window and got Sirius out."

"Thanks a lot." Sirius said warmly. Hermione squeezed his hand.

"We landed on one of the towers, and got off so Sirius could fly away on Buckbeak. He was so busy being grateful Harry and I had to chase him away so he wouldn't get caught." Hermione laughed.

"Typical Padfoot." Remus chuckled.

"We made it back to hospital wing just in time and waited. Pretty soon Fudge and Snape came towards us yelling about how Sirius got away again. Snape was trying to blame Harry. However as the door had been locked once Dumbledore left, there was apparently no way we could have done it." Hermione grinned impishly.

"Nice!" James and Sirius beamed.

"Snape was besides himself. He accidentally let slip to the Slytherins what Remus is so he resigned before the parents could write in."

"That little scumbag!" Sirius roared.

"How dare he!" James yelled. Remus looked horrified but resigned. Lily just looked shellshocked. She knew that Severus had told just her, but she was his best friend. She never dreamed he would tell an entire house to get Remus out of a job. It was as if the man she knew didn't exist. Dumbledore looked sad.

"Harry heard about it from Hagrid. He immediately went up to try and convince Remus to stay, saying he was the best defense teacher we had. He was right."

"Awww. I love your son James." Remus beamed.

"Not up against much competition were you? I mean Lockhart, and a guy with Voldemort sticking out the back of his head?" Sirius grinned over at him.

"Oh shut up Padfoot." Remus said, throwing a cushion at him which hit Hermione.

"Hey!" She complained.

"Oops. Sorry 'Mione." Remus grinned sheepishly.

"Remus told Harry that James could turn into a stag, which is why Harry's Patronus was one. He gave Harry back the map and the cloak which we had left in the Shack."

"Thanks a lot Remus. You're leaving so give him back the things that allow the boy to cause trouble." McGonagall groaned. Remus just grinned. James and Sirius high-fived him.

"Gryffindor won the house cup for the third year in a row."

Everybody cheered. Baby Harry clapped wildly, making everyone laugh.

"On the train home we got an owl. Sirius admitted he had got Harry the Firebolt. He had used Crookshanks to place the order."

"A smart idea, from Padfoot?" Lily gasped.

"I can be smart." Sirius said, looking put out.

"Suuuure." James said sarcastically. Sirius pouted.

"He also gave Harry permission to visit Hogsmeade as well as letting Ron keep the owl because he lost Scabbers. He wasn't quite so upset about that this time, knowing what, or rather who, Scabbers really was."

"I wouldn't be upset at losing that either. Not that I would have a rat anyway." Sirius agreed with a shudder.

"When we got to king's Cross, Harry decided to tell the Dursleys that his godfather was an escaped convict. He forgot to mention Sirius was innocent."

"Genius!" James beamed. "My son is the very best."

"I have to agree." Remus nodded.

"And so concludes our third year." Hermione said.

"Crikey. Nothing like a peaceful year with you lot is there?" Sirius said.

"Nope."

"At least that year, the threat wasn't important. Sirius wouldn't actually hurt Harry. I doubt he will run into anyone else like that." James sighed.

"Don't think like that. Plenty of people will want to help Harry." Lily said. "Speaking of which, Harry is going to go to bed." She stood up and James went with her to say goodnight to Harry. Remus began talking to Dumbledore about the possibility of him teaching one day. McGonagall joined in occasionally, throwing in a helpful comment. Sirius stood up and dragged Hermione out to the kitchen.

"Lily is less likely to get mad if you are in here too." He explained with a mischievous grin. He made himself a sandwich and then offered one to Hermione. She took it gratefully.

"On to fourth year then." Sirius said.

"Yeah. This year you and Harry get along so no need to worry about that." She smiled.

"That's a relief." Sirius sighed. "That was horrible." Hermione nodded in sympathy. She watched out of the window as the sun began to set, casting a red light across the sky. When she turned back around Sirius was standing right next to her and it suddenly struck her how tall he was. She had to look up to see his face. He looked suddenly very nervous.

"'Mione…" He began, but his voice tailed off. Hermione stood frozen to the spot. Heart and head warring inside her. Her heart just wanted to close the gap between them. But her head was stilling stuck in the future, where he was too old for her. A very different person from the one stood beside her. She suddenly felt his warm hands on her waist and as she looked back up at him, his lips met her halfway. Sirius held her close as he kissed her. He felt a warmth spreading through his body from every point of contact. It might have been seconds later, or it might have been hours, Sirius couldn't tell. But all too soon Hermione pulled away.

"I...I'm sorry." Sirius muttered. She looked at him for a second, then pressed her lips to his again briefly.

"Don't be." She smiled. "I'm certainly not." Sirius suddenly grinned. He pulled her tightly against him for a hug, resting his head on the top of hers. Her arms snaked around his waist and they stood there until they heard footsteps. They sprung apart just as Lily walked in.

"Black, get out of my kitchen." She said, glaring at him. Sirius left with a backwards smirk at Hermione.

"Do you need any help Lily?" Hermione asked, slightly flustered by the kiss. Lily shook her head with a sly grin.

"Something you want to share?" Lily asked.

"Nope." Hermione grinned.

"Suit yourself." Lily replied with a wink. The girls made their way back into the room. Hermione sat beside Sirius, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders. James and Remus exchanged some gold when they saw the pair, who just rolled their eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Goblet of Fire

"Well. I think we should start our Fourth year today before we go to bed." Hermione started. "It started when Harry had a dream about Voldemort. He was in the Riddle House in LIttle Hangleton."

Dumbledore leant forward slightly. Eager to learn as much as possible about Voldemort.

"Harry overheard a conversation between Voldemort and Pettigrew." There was a chorus of growing at the name. "They were talking about using Harry for something. He overheard this through the ears of the muggle caretaker, after the Riddles were murdered a long time ago. The caretaker had been blamed, even though it was decided it was impossible for him to have done it. They were murdered by magic, which leaves no traces." Hermione explained.

"Were they murdered by Voldemort?" Sirius asked. Hermione nodded.

"But weren't they his family?" Lily gasped.

"You think Voldemort cared for his muggle side of the family?" Dumbledore asked with a raised eyebrow. Lily paused and then shook her head.

"They spoke about Bertha Jorkins going missing and providing him with useful information. It also was discussed, that a faithful servant with rejoin Voldemort soon, Voldemort killed the muggle and Harry woke up from his dream with his scar hurting."

"He saw all that in a dream? How is that even possible?" James asked, looking horrified. They all looked at Dumbledore. He looked just as curious as the others.

"I have my suspicions, but I do not know." He told them all gravely. If Tom Riddle had indeed gone down the route that he suspected, killing him would be almost impossible. He had suspected after hearing about the diary, but this was just further proof.

"He didn't really want to tell me or Ron about it, because he seemed to know how we would react. It probably wouldn't have been much help either as none of us knew what we were dealing with. He also didn't want to confide in Dumbledore because he thought it sounded ridiculous that he was having these bad dreams and he didn't know if they meant anything."

"Poor boy." McGonagall said, sadly.

"Harry had a big problem asking others for help. Either he didn't think they could help or he didn't want to put them in danger." Hermione told them all fondly.

"Sometimes you need help though." Sirius argued.

"Ron and I tried to tell him that many times." She told him.

"He didn't listen?" James chuckled. Hermione just shook her head.

"So, he wrote to Sirius."

"Awesome!" Sirius cheered. "At least now I can be there for him." Remus looked a little put out that Harry hadn't considered him. Something of his emotions must have shown on his face because Hermione looked over at him.

"Remus, you have to remember that, although you were friends with James in school, Harry had only ever seen you in a professor role. He thought of Sirius as a godfather and his dads best friends. Knowing he was innocent meant that was the only way Harry could perceive him. You were much more of a teacher to him than anything else. Although you two did become closer friends later on." He looked cheered by this thought.

"Thanks 'Mione." He muttered gratefully.

"Now this summer the Dursley's got told by the school that Dudley had to go on a diet because the uniform wasn't made big enough for him."

Everyone laughed, except Lily and McGonagall who both looked horrified at the thought of such a large child.

"So Harry had written to us all to provide him proper food, which we did, so he didn't starve. For a change he actually had more food than his cousin."

"Good." Said James firmly.

"'Bout time." Remus agreed.

"Before finishing the letter, Harry went down for breakfast. During breakfast the postman rang the bell to deliver a letter. It was from the Weasley's inviting Harry to theirs to go to the Quidditch world cup with them."

"Yes! He has to go." James cried.

"Vernon didn't want him too, but Harry threatened him by saying he was writing a letter to Sirius. who they thought was a deranged criminal who could use magic against them."

"That's me." Sirius laughed.

"Definitely deranged." Lily agreed with a giggle. James chuckled as well. Sirius pouted and turned to Hermione.

"I agree with Lily." She said, trying to bite back her laughter.

"Traitor." SIrius muttered.

"He obviously didn't want that, so he agreed to let Harry go. Ron's owl was waiting upstairs saying they were picking him up whether the Dursley's gave permission or not."

"Wicked." James and Sirius grinned.

"The Weasley's tried to arrive by floo powder, but the Dursley's fireplace was electric so the fireplace was blocked up. Mr Weasley had to blast the whole thing apart to get out."

Lily giggled, picturing Vernon and Petunia's perfect living room blasted apart. Everyone else laughed with her.

"He had brought Fred, George and Ron with him. Fred and George went to get Harry's things while Mr Weasley did try to make conversation with the Dursley's, but they were very happy. Just before he left, Fred spilled a bag of sweets. Once he got them gathered up, he left with George and the trunk. Then Ron left. Before Harry left however, he saw that Dudley was a huge purple thing protruding from his mouth. Apparently he had eaten one of the sweets Fred had dropped and it was enlarging his tongue."

"Brilliant!" James and Sirius cried together, howling with laughter. "Those twins are incredible. I think we should offer to babysit for Molly a few times." James said to Sirius with a grin.

"No way." Lily said immediately. "We do not need copies of you two running around." They both pouted. McGonagall threw Lily a grateful look.

"Harry left and Mr Weasley tried to fix Dudley. Back at the Burrow, the twins said they had invented the sweets themselves."

"Wow. Those two are geniuses." James said.

"I think they can be honorary marauders." Sirius agreed.

"Agreed." Remus put in with a grin. McGonagall groaned into her hands.

"What did I do to deserve this, Albus we need to discuss my retirement." She said, only half joking. Dumbledore looked amused.

"They seem very intelligent men Minerva. Why would you not wish to teach them." He said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I had quite enough trouble with these three, I don't need them teaching future people who seem quite capable of doing a wonderful job on their own." She moaned.

"So, Mr Weasley's wasn't happy with the twins but Molly overheard their argument and made the twins throw out all the sweets."

"What?!" Yelped James.

"How could she?" Sirius cried.

"Thank you Molly." McGonagall said.

"This year, Percy had graduated so he was working in the Ministry under Barty Crouch in the Department of Magical Cooperation. Bill and Charlie were there too with me for the Quidditch cup. At dinner that night, they were talking about Bertha Jorkins' disappearance. They were also talking about a top secret event after the world cup."

"I wonder what that could be?" Lily mused.

"No idea." James said, frowning.

"Shut up and we might find out." Remus told them both. James stuck his tongue out.

"The next morning we had to get up at the crack of dawn to get the portkey to the world cup. They explained to Harry and me what Portkeys were and how they worked. We met up with the Diggory's, who were getting the same Portkey. Amos kept making comments about how Cedric had beaten Harry at Quidditch last year."

"Dementors made Harry fall off his broom?" Remus frowned.

"That didn't matter to him. Just that Cedric had won." Hermione explained.

"Stupid idiot." James muttered.

"Never liked Amos." Sirius growled.

"Mr Weasley had to get Harry to deal with the money because the gatekeepers were muggles, where the tents were stationed. Harry, Ron and I went to get water while they lit a fire for some food. Loads of our friends were there, so we enjoyed looking at all the tents. The old Gryffindor Keeper, Oliver Wood, was now playing for Puddlemere United reserves."

"Yes!" Go Puddlemere!" James cheered. "So we get a decent keeper in the future, nice." He grinned.

"When we got back, Mr Weasley was having trouble with the matches, so I had to light the fire himself. Sitting outside, we met Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch."

"Bagman? Isn't he that beater for the Wasps?" James asked. Hermione nodded. "He was a few years above us. Good beater, one of the best Hufflepuff ever had."

"Crouch kept calling Percy, Weatherby instead of Weasley, which we all found really funny because Percy would have licked his boots clean I think. Thought the sun shone out of him."

"Idiot." Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Bagman was the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Apparently Bertha was in his department but he wasn't that interested in finding her to be honest."

McGonagall sighed in exasperation.

"They mentioned the event again, apparently it was happening at HOgwarts, but Mr Crouch dragged Bagman away before he could tell us what it was."

"Awww!" Chorused James and Sirius.

"Then we went to look at the merchandise. Harry got us all some omnioculars. Ron bought a figure of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian seeker." She blushed slightly when she said his name and Sirius watched her, suddenly feeling slightly jealous. "Harry bought an Irish hat that squeaked the names of the players."

"Ireland? Wow. They are really bad at the moment." Sirius said.

"We had tickets in the top box."

"Wow." James said, practically drooling. Sirius had the same dreamy expression on his face.

"Now, the match was quite good, but I'm not telling you who won." Hermione said strictly. The boys all groaned. "There was a house-elf there, apparently saving a seat for Crouch, but he never showed up. The Malfoys were there with Fudge and Bagman."

"Nice crowd." Sirius said sarcastically.

"That night, there was loads of noise in camp. Apparently some death eaters were levitating the muggles from the gates for their amusement. Their families as well."

"At the world cup? What is the Ministry coming to, allowing that to happen?" McGonagall said sharply.

"Not a lot." Hermione replied grimly. "Myself, Harry and the Weasley's all ran to the forest, where Harry discovered he had lost his wand."

"What?" James barked.

"How could he be so careless." Lily moaned, hiding her face his her hands.

"Us three got separated."

"Of course you did." Groaned Remus.

"Then we saw Winky, Mr Crouch's house elf. She was running strangely, but we thought nothing of it because a few seconds later someone close to us conjured the dark mark."

Everyone gasped.

"Nobody died." Hermione hurried to assure them. "We got found by Ministry wizards. They thought we had done it."

"Ridiculous." Remus snorted.

"Like Harry would have conjured that filthy mark." James growled in disgust.

"Well, Mr Weasley vouched for us, and we told them we had heard a voice and they shot stunners into the forest. When someone went to check, they found Winky, with Harry's wand."

"What?" Gasped James. "House elves aren't allowed wands. Nor would she conjure the dark mark, especially working for someone like Crouch."

"I agree James. But nobody else did. It was proven that the wand had done the spell. When Harry it was his and he lost it, they assumed Winky had stolen it in the top box and used it."

"Ignorant fools." Sirius spat.

"When they searched, nobody else was found so Crouch dismissed Winky, who was horrified by that. We went back to the tent where Mr Weasley explained what had happened and what the dark mark meant, because Harry didn't know."

"Honestly. If you want Harry to fight old mouldy shorts, you could at least tell him important facts. How is he supposed to fight without knowing what he is fighting." Sirius growled.

"Because as much as Harry seems to be portrayed to be the man fighting Voldemort, he is still a fouteen year old boy. He also needs to have some things kept off his shoulders." Dumbledore said calmly.

"A fourteen year old boy who has beaten Voldemort three times already." James put in. I agree with Sirius, he needs to know these things. It's probably part of the reason he doesn't ask people for help. They never tell him anything." Everyone seemed to be agreeing with James and Sirius, so Hermione carried on quickly before there could be an argument.

"Next morning, we went back to the Burrow where Mrs Weasley was frantic because Rita Skeeter had put in the prophet about the death eaters. Mr Weasley and Percy were working overtime after that because the Ministry was trying to deal with the fact that death eaters appeared at the world cup and none were caught."

"They didn't even get caught? Wow." Remus marvelled.

"Harry then finally told us about his dream and his writing to Sirius. Ron and I were both a bit worried about him, but Harry brushed it off as usual. Mrs Weasley had bought all our school things, this year we had dress robes."

"Dress robes? For school?" Sirius asked, looking aghast. Dumbledore and McGonagall exchanged worried glances.

"The next morning, Mr Weasley had to rush off because there was a disturbance at Mad-eye Moody's place, so Mrs Weasley tooks us to the station with Bill and Charlie. Percy had work. Bill and Charlie kept dropping hints about the event at Hogwarts but refused to tell us. The boys were all discussing the cup until Malfoy came in."

"Oh great. They haven't even gotten to school yet. Where is Remus when you need him." Groaned James.

"He really does attract trouble, our boy." Lily winced.

"Malfoy kept asking if we were going to enter because his father had told him everything about what was going on. He enjoyed the fact that we didn't know and taunted Ron that his dad probably wasn't important enough to know."

"Slimeball." Remus scowled.

"Then, we arrived at Hogwarts, in torrential rain." Hermione announced. "I think we should all get some rest."

"Just four years left." Sirius groaned.

"I'm not sure my heart will last." Lily grimaced. "My poor boy." With that, she went to check on Harry.

"We shall be back tomorrow." Dumbledore and McGonagall said.

"I may have to remain at Hogwarts tomorrow. Both of us can't keep disappearing. Maybe I could send another teacher with Minerva?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Hermione. She nodded.

"Please fill them in on what has happened so far before they arrive." She request. He nodded and then the teachers left.

"We better make a move too Padfoot." Remus sighed. Sirius looked reluctantly at Hermione.

"Yeah, off to bed you two." She teased. He squeezed her hand and then he and Remus disapparated.

"Wow." James said. "I can't believe Harry has done this much stuff and he is only fourteen."

"We couldn't either."

"I'm glad you all made it through." He said, patting her shoulder. Hermione winced slightly, thinking of all those who hadn't. "I meant you, Harry and Ron." James clarified quickly. She nodded.

"Well, I had better be getting to bed." She said.

"Wait, 'Mione, you don't have anything do you? I mean you can't use your own family money as it will go to younger you." He asked. Hermione bit her lip. She hadn't really thought that far ahead.

"I hadn't thought about it yet. I was only really focused on getting rid of Voldemort."

"Understandable. But, if you want, you are perfectly welcome to part of the Potter fortune. We have more than we could ever spend anyway. As a thank you for everything you did for my son. Even if you won't have to do it in this time." He offered. Hermione teared up slightly.

"Thank you James. That is very generous of you. I could probably do with getting some things of my own if I'm staying in this time permanently, which I'm pretty sure I am."

"Tomorrow morning we could go to Diagon Alley before we start and get you your own clothes at least, unless you want to keep Lily's." He grinned. "You will need a new name as well. Given that your name belongs to someone in this time already."

"True." She admitted, it was surprising that James had considered these things before she had.

"I can ask Remus about being a distant cousin of his if you like."

"I would be very grateful." Hermione said.

"I know, surprised I thought of something so practical?" He laughed, reading her expression.

"Yeah." She blushed. "You were kind of just known as the parent of Harry Potter. A troublemaker at school, although plenty of people told us you were a really skilled wizard, clearly very brave too."

"I like to think I'm brave and skilled. But I will always be a troublemaker deep down. Even though I have grown up slightly, I guess I died before many people could see that."

"Well, we are going to make sure it doesn't happen this time around." Hermione assured him. He gave her a grateful smile and they both went upstairs to bed.

(A/N Hey guys, hope you like it. I summarised quite a bit in this chapter because from now on the books get really thick and I want to get to what they change in that time. I won't miss out important details thought, I promise. Anyway, I'm going on holiday tomorrow so I won't update for a while. Keep reviewing, it makes my day :) )


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: New Identity

Next morning, Hermione awoke to the sound of a baby crying. She could hear Lily trying to soothe Harry.

"James get up!" She was yelling. Hermione got up and dressed, emerging just in time to see a sleepy James coming out of the room at the end of the hallway. His hair was even messier than usual, one side flattened where he had been sleeping. He wore only shorts as he stumbled down the hall yawning.

"What's the matter Lils?" He called.

"Harry needs feeding and I need to make breakfast."

"All right. I got it. Morning 'Mione." James said, noticing Hermione for the first time.

"Good morning James. That's a good look." She grinned. He smirked and puffed out his chest as he made his way into Harry's room. Hermione traipsed downstairs with a yawn and sat at the kitchen table. Lily stood by the oven cooking pancakes and a dishevelled Remus was sat opposite her. He looked ill and she guessed the full moon was coming up. His sandy hair stuff up at all angles, not unlike James'.

"Hi there Remus." She said.

"Morning 'Mione." Remus replied with a smile. James then emerged holding a wriggling Harry. He sat in the only remaining chair and turned to Remus.

"Hey Moony. I wanted to talk to you. 'Mione needs a new name for living here. As she already technically exists in this time, she can't go by her real name. The Potter's are too well known to have a new family member suddenly turn up, so I was thinking she could be a distant Lupin?"

"Wow James. You're smart!" Lily exclaimed in surprise.

"Sometimes." He grinned.

"Sounds like a good plan. My uncle moved to Europe a while ago, Hermione could have moved back from there." Remus suggested.

"Nice. Hermione Lupin. Sounds good to me." Hermione announced.

"Hermione Lupin? I'm gone for one night…" Sirius came into the kitchen. James and Remus laughed.

"It's just a cover name Padfoot. She can't go by Hermione Granger as a younger version of her is already alive." James explained. Sirius looked relieved.

"Good to hear. In that case the name is just fine." He stood behind Hermione looking wistfully over at Lily and the pancakes.

"They are almost ready Black." She sighed, serving some onto a plate and giving it to Hermione. All the boys were watching her jealously, almost drooling as the smell of pancakes filled the small kitchen.

Finally they had all finished eating. Harry was dressed and ready for the day. They agreed that they should go into Diagon Alley first to buy Hermione some of her own things. Lily decided to stay behind with Harry to wait for the professors in case they arrived while they were out. Once everyone was ready, Hermione, James, Sirius and Remus flooed to the Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione was struck by how different Diagon Alley was from her own time. Many of the shop owners had been killed so the shops still hadn't been reopened. George had only just opened Weasley's Wizard Wheezes again after Fred's death. That was now the dominant feature of Diagon Alley, it was strange being back without it there. She suddenly wondered if they would ever open it. The shop had come about because Harry was entered into the Triwizard tournament. In this time he wouldn't be put into it and get the winnings to give to the twins. Hermione was sure she could persuade James to invest in the shop if the twins were serious about it in this time as well.

"I'd better get some money out first." James said. They all headed towards Gringotts and waited outside while James went to the vault. He came out with a bag full of money which he handed to Hermione.

"Thanks a lot James. It's really kind of you."

"Don't mention it." He smiled warmly. "Who fancies an ice cream?" He asked, heading over to Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour. Everyone followed him eagerly. Once they were all eating great big ice creams, the headed to Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions where Hermione picked out some plain black robes and some pretty periwinkle blue dress robes. Talking about their fourth year made Hermione think of the Yule Ball and her robes she had worn then. The only time she had had any use for them, but she was fond of the colour.

"We can stop buy some muggle shops afterwards and grab some muggle clothes for every day where if you like?" Remus offered.

"That would be great." Hermione smiled. "But first, will I need a new wand? The one I have is from my time. My younger self will be destined to pick the same wand and therefore there are currently two identical wands in existence at the same time."

"Honestly, as long as you don't end up duelling yourself, I don't imagine it will have much effect." Sirius said.

"Don't get a new one for now. If Professor Dumbledore thinks you need one we can always come back." Remus said. "Do you need anything else for now?"

"Not at the moment, I don't think. It was mainly clothes. At some point I will need to find a place of my own and things to go in it."

"You're welcome to stay with us as long as you need." James offered.

"Thanks James. You guys have made this so much easier." Hermione said as they made their way down the cobbled street towards the Leaky Cauldron. They went straight through and into the muggle world. James had turned some wizard money into muggle money at Gringotts so Hermione could just go and pick out some clothes for everyday wear.

Once that was done, the flooed straight back to the Potter house as they assumed the Professors would be there waiting for them. When they arrived they saw that Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were sitting in the living room with Lily. They were discussing the story so far when Hermione dropped into the room. She straightened up and was just brushing the dirt off herself when Sirius came hurtling out and knocked straight into her.

"Ow." She complained.

"Oops. Sorry 'Mione." Sirius grinned sheepishly, helping her to her feet. "Hi Professors." He added, nodding to the pair.

"Mr Black." McGonagall sighed, rolling her eyes at his entrance.

"Professor Flitwick, this is Hermione Lupin, A.K.A Hermione Granger. 'Mione, I'm sure you know Professor Flitwick." Sirius grinned.

"I do indeed." She smiled at the tiny man.

"Pleasure to meet you Miss Granger." He squeaked. "Professor Dumbledore speaks highly of you. I must say your story is incredible."

"It is." Hermione agreed as James came whizzing out of the fireplace. He nodded to the professors and went over to relieve Lily of Harry. Finally Remus came flying into the room looking disgruntled.

"Hello Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall." He smiled, dusting himself off. Everyone sat down and looked to Hermione.

"Well, we left it as we were arriving at Hogwarts in a storm didn't we?" She asked.

"Yep. That's always the best time to arrive. We had a storm in our first year." James grinned.

"Yeah and you idiots pushed me into the lake." Sirius grumbled. James, Remus and Lily laughed. "The giant squid wasn't a pleasant first thing to see."

"I feel more sorry for the squid." Lily laughed.

"Anyway," Hermione cut across, trying not to laugh herself. "It was quite chaotic because Peeves was throwing water bombs at students. We finally got ready and watched the sorting. One of the first years had fallen into the lake."

"Probably pushed." Sirius muttered. James laughed.

"I'm pretty sure he fell. Excitable little kid. Then Nearly Headless Nick let slip that there were house elves in Hogwarts. After the way I had heard about Dobby being treated, and seen Mr Crouch treat Winky, I was pretty against that treatment. I decided that something should be done about elf rights."

"They like being enslaved." Sirius told her. "You should hear the one at home talk."

"I have." Hermione grimaced, remembering Kreacher.

"Poor you." Sirius sympathised.

"Professor Dumbledore also announced that the Quidditch cup would not be taking place that year."

"WHAT!?" Yelped James. He and Sirius looked horrified.

"It was decided that Hogwarts would be hosting the Triwizard Tournament." There was a sharp intake of breath for both Professors. Sirius and James looked excited but Lily and Remus looked worried..

"As he was making the announcement Professor Moody made his entrance."

"You got taught my Alastor Moody?" Sirius asked, looking impressed. That was his mentor in Auror training and he respected him immensely. Hermione nodded.

"Anyway, that year it had been decided that nobody under the age of seventeen could enter the tournament. Professor Dumbledore was going to draw an age line around the Goblet, which is where you tried to enter. He then gave us a bit of background on the tournament. The Weasley twins wanted to enter and were pretty annoyed when the age limit was introduced. They were a few months too young."

"Shame. It would have been nice for one of them to win it." James sighed.

"Lessons started next day. We had the joy of Bubotubers in Herbology. Hagrid had some new creatures for us to study."

"Oh Lord, what now?" Remus asked in apprehension.

"Blast-Ended Screwts."

"What? Actually, I don't want to know." Lily said.

"We think, Hagrid bred them himself. Or smuggled them illegally. Either way they were disgusting. He wanted us to feed them because he didn't know what they ate. It was awful."

"Oh Hagrid." Flitwick sighed.

"At lunch, Malfoy was winding up Ron because Rita Skeeter had written a horrible article about the incident with Moody before term that made Mr Weasley look bad. She hadn't even spelt his name right. Harry just insulted him right back and when Harry tried to walk away Malfoy tried to curse him from behind."

"That little…"James growled. Lily just looked at him pointedly.

"Not so funny when it's someone you love is it?" She asked him. Although she looked angry with Malfoy, she was also trying to make James understand how his actions in school had been stupid.

"Moody, however, turned Malfoy into a ferret."

"Awesome!" Cheered Sirius, James and Remus fell about laughing. Even Lily was having a hard time not to smile. McGonagall looked scandalised.

"Transfiguration is not a punishment." She said firmly. Hermione laughed. McGonagall raised an eyebrow.

"Thats what you told Moody when you saw him doing it." She explained and McGonagall gave a small smile.

"Some people never change, eh Minerva." Flitwick laughed.

"For good reason Filius." She sniffed.

"A few days later we had our first lesson with Professor Moody. He decided to teach us about unforgivable curses. He even gave us a demonstration."

"He what?" Shrieked McGonagall. "Albus would never allow it."

"He said Professor Dumbledore was with it, but I'm not sure he ever actually asked." Hermione told them.

"Moody does his own thing." Sirius shrugged.

"During the demonstrations Neville looked really freaked out and after the lesson he just stood in a corridor on his own staring into space. We tried to convince him to come with us but Moody took him off to his office. That night I pitched my idea to Harry and Ron about S.P.E.W. The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. Harry also got his reply from Sirius. It said that he was coming back north and Dumbledore was reading signs. That confused us, but Harry was mostly concerned that Sirius was coming back and might get caught."

"It's ok kid. I wouldn't miss helping you for the world." Sirius said, ruffling baby Harry's hair.

"Next morning, Harry wrote back to Sirius to try and convince him he had imagined his scar hurting and to stay away."

"Nice try kid, but it will take more than that." Sirius said.

"It had better Padfoot. But do not get yourself caught." James told him.

"Me? Never." Sirius grinned.

"Moody then wanted to try putting the Imperius curse on students to teach us to throw it off."

"WHAT?!" McGonagall screeched again. "He put an unforgivable curse on fourteen year old students?" She asked, looking murderous.

"Yes. Harry was the only one able to even fight it first time."

"That's my boy." James grinned, hugging baby Harry.

"After the third time, Harry could throw it off completely. At Halloween the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would be arriving. We all watched them arrive and then had the awesome Halloween feast. The students then had 24 hours to enter their names in the Goblet of Fire if they wished to enter. Sirius also wrote back to Harry saying nice try he was coming back anyway."

"Thanks Padfoot." James smiled gratefully.

"Fred and George tried ageing potion to try and get over the line but it made them sprout great white beards."

The Marauders all fell about laughing. "NIce." James said through his laughter.

"Hagrid developed a crush on the headmistress of Beauxbatons who was also a half giant. Then the champions were selected. Viktor Krum was the Durmstrang champion."

"The Bulgarian international seeker is still in school?" James asked in amazement. Hermione nodded with a smile.

"Fleur Delacour was the Beauxbatons champion. She was part veela. Cedric Diggory was selected as the Hogwarts champion." Lily heaved a sigh of relief.

"There are only three school so three champions?" She asked.

"Normally. But then Harry got selected as a fourth champion."

"Oh no!" Remus gasped.

"Of course he did." Groaned Sirius.

"My poor boy." Lily said, staring at Hermione wide-eyed.

"But the age line?" McGonagall whispered.

"Someone had put Harry's name in the cup. Due to tournament rules, Harry then had to participate. Binding magical contract as Mr Crouch put it. Everyone was really confused and the other school champions were really annoyed that Hogwarts got two champions. Professor Dumbledore was convinced that Harry couldn't have done it himself, but almost everyone in the school thought he had. They thought he had got around the age line in an attempt to get more attention."

"That's ridiculous." Lily cried. "His father, maybe, but Harry wouldn't."

"Oi." James cried indignantly. Lily grinned over at him.

"Just telling it like it is dear." She laughed.

"Even Ron refused to talk to him."

"What? Some friend." James scowled.

"Deep down, he knew Harry hadn't entered. But being overshadowed his whole life by his brothers and now by his best friend, it was all a bit much for him. This was one straw too many."

"So. It's not like Harry is asking for the attention. He didn't ask for us to be killed and Voldemort to be hunting him down." James fumed.

"I know James. Ron knew that too, he was just being childish. Harry argued that same point to me and I agreed. I knew Harry hadn't entered himself."

"At least he had one good friend." Sirius smiled. "And me of course."

"I tried to explain that Ron was jealous but Harry just got angry, so I gave up trying to make the two of them talk. I knew they would work it out sooner or later. I made him write and tell Sirius what had happened."

"Good. I want to know these things." Sirius said.

"From then on Harry had an unpleasant time. The Slytherins were worse than usual. The HUfflepuffs were angry because they rarely get glory and they thought Harry had stolen Cedric's glory. The Ravenclaws just thought he wanted more attention."

"Now really." Flitwick cried, clearly disappointed in his house. "I would have thought they would know better."

Hagrid believed him as well. The Gryffindors were nice to him but they all still thought he had entered himself."

"Well really. How would a fourteen year old boy get past an age line set by Albus Dumbledore?" McGonagall huffed angrily.

"There was an incident outside potions where Malfoy called me a mudblood so Harry drew his wand. They both sent curses. Malfoy's hit mine and Harry's hit grew large boils and my teeth started to grow to a ridiculous size. Snape came out and sent Goyle to the hospital wing, took point of Gryffindor and said he saw no difference in me."

"Blatant favouritism!" Sirius growled loudly.

"Oh Sev." Lily sighed quietly. "Why?"

"Harry and Ron got detention for yelling abuse at Snape for being unfair."

"Well fair enough, but I don't blame them." Remus sighed.

"Colin Creevey came into potions to say Harry had to leave early for a wand weighing ceremony. It was basically to make sure their wands were working properly. Mr Ollivander was there to do it. Before it started Rita dragged Harry away for an interview. Whatever he said she ended up twisting his words into a very nasty article that didn't help what was happening in the school."

"I really dislike this woman." James growled.

"Everyone did." Hermione snorted.

"Professor Dumbledore came to rescue Harry and take him back to the ceremony. Ollivander checked all the wands and they were all in perfect order. Then they had photographs done. When he got back to the dormitory Sirius' reply was there. He wanted to talk in the fireplace at 1 in the morning on a certain day."

"Good man Padfoot." James smiled.

"Thank you Sirius." Lily said.

"Shall we take a break?" Hermione asked and everyone nodded.

(A/N I'm back! Got some writing done on hol so I could update as soon as I got back. I noticed I've been summarising GoF much quicker than the previous three so I hope you guys are ok with that. Let me know if you think I'm skipping too much or if this pace is ok. )


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Traitor

Lily got up to make some food because Sirius's stomach was grumbling loudly as usual. James was playing with baby Harry on the floor, until Sirius transformed into a dog and gave Harry rides around the room much to the baby's delight. McGonagall was watching them fondly and Hermione was laughing. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Sirius growled, and James took Harry so he could transform back.

"It's Pettigrew." Sirius spat. "I could smell him."

"What is he doing here?" James growled.

"Guys, he doesn't know you know he is a traitor. You can't give anything away and he can't know I'm here." Hermione whispered frantically. The professor's nodded.

"We shall return to the school until he has gone." McGonagall spoke and she disappeared into the fire, followed quickly by Flitwick.

Hermione threw a quick glance at Sirius. "You can't harm him in any way or tip him off that you know."

"We can't let the filth go and return to Voldemort." Remus said, a glint of anger in his eye.

"Quick, answer the door and get rid of him quickly. I will hide upstairs." Hermione told them and sprinted away. James went to the door and opened it with an attempt at a smile.

"Hey Peter, long time no see old _friend." _He said friend as if it were a filthy word. Peter looked at him strangely.

"HI James. I stopped by to see how things are going." He smiled and stepped inside, making himself comfortable on the couch as he had done countless times before. He noticed James and Sirius seemed to be on edge. "What's up, you two seem prepared for an attack?" He asked as innocently as possible.

"Oh ya know, just the same old. Moldyshorts trying to kill us as usual, always be prepared." James smiled, but it was the same grimace he had used at the front door and Peter knew something was up.

"Moldyshorts?" He squeaked, amazed how stupid his friends could be about provoking the Dark Lord himself. Lily came in with a plate of food.

"Hi Peter." She smiled, it didn't reach her eyes, but he was used to it. Lily had never been his biggest fan. She was acting the most normal of them all. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, just missed my friends. The shop has been keeping me busy or I would have been by sooner." He smiled.

"Oh yeah, how is the shop going?" James asked, regaining his normal tone.

"Pretty well actually. It's hard now that dad has gone, but we get by." He told them. "Need some more help though, really. Hey, Remus, how's your job hunting going?"

"Not well." He sighed.

"You could always come and work at the shop, if you need to." Peter offered with a smile. Remus and Sirius exchanged warning glances but Peter was too used to being left out to notice, or care.

"That's a great offer Peter, thanks. If I don't have any luck with the next applications I have sent off then I will consider it." He said gratefully. Could this really be his enemy? Maybe Peter was a much better actor than they had given him credit for.

"So what are you all up to today?" Peter asked.

"Not much really. Lily and I aren't supposed to be out much. We can't afford to leave Harry without any parents, so it's stay at home 'safe'. James said bitterly. "Padfoot and Moony stopped by to relieve some boredom."

"No, I stopped by for the food." Sirius said with a grin, taking a sandwich from the plate Lily offered.

"Food?" Peter asked eagerly. Lily laughed and offered him the plate as well. It was taking all her energy not to hex Peter on the spot, so she chose to get out of the room before the urge overcame her. She scooped up Harry and went upstairs, explaining that he needed a nappy change.

"So, when's the next Order meeting?" James asked Sirius. Peter's head snapped up.

"Next week, I think." Sirius replied. Dumbledore has a few new people to introduce to us apparently.

"Only a few? The recruitment isn't going as well as hoped then?" Remus asked sadly.

"Well, not many people want to stand up to Voldemort openly. You can't blame them." Peter put in.

"You can blame them for being cowardly. You think staying out of it is going to get him to leave you alone. He doesn't care. He will torture you and kill you for no reason if it so pleases the dark bastard." Sirius growled. _Not if you are on his side._ Peter thought to himself.

"I agree." James said. Lily came back down and Peter excused himself.

"Bathroom." He muttered and vanished up the stairs, where he shut the bathroom door loudly and transformed into a rat.

"Why can't we just hex him into oblivion?" Sirius whispered.

"Because then we would have to explain to everyone why we know he is a spy. They can't convict him without evidence and we can't expose 'Mione." Remus whispered back.

"Dumbledore would be on our side." James reasoned.

"He can't make up false evidence. 'Mione can't become common knowledge." Lily argued.

"Lily is right. We have to play this out as if we don't know." Remus sighed.

"So we let the scum keep giving valuable information to Voldemort?" Sirius growled in frustration. "If we stop telling him something important, even Pettigrew would figure out something was off."

While they were talking, Hermione had her ear pressed against the door and heard the tell tale whooshing noise of the transformation. Clearly Pettigrew had become a rat. She waited a few second, and opened the door noiselessly. Sat at the top of the stairs was a thin, black rat, listening intently to something downstairs. She listened herself and heard voices discussing Peter. She gasped to herself, knowing this meant Peter was hearing that they knew he was a traitor. Quickly, she grabbed him by the tail and marched down the stairs.

"'Mione what are you…" Sirius started in a frantic whisper and then he caught sight of the rat, squirming violently in her hand. "You little…" He was too angry to finish the sentence.

"He was spying on us?" James asked, his voice low and cold. Hermione nodded silently.

"Well there is the evidence he is a spy." Remus growled. "Let's hand him over for interrogation." The rat squeaked in fright. "Oh shut up!" He spat.

"Can't we just kill him now?" Sirius asked.

"NO." Hermione told him sharply. "As much as I wish we could, he might have some information for us. At least he can tell us how much he has told Voldemort about our plans so we can change them" SIrius sighed.

"Why do you have to be so smart?"

"Because you aren't and someone has to stop you doing stupid stuff." She retorted with a grin. He gave a bark like laugh and then turned his attention back to Peter.

"Ok. Send a patronus message to Dumbledore and tell him we caught a traitor." Lily nodded and went to the kitchen.

Half an hour there was a knock at the door and Dumbledore stood outside with Mad-eye Moody. Hermione had to stifle a greeting, remembering he wouldn't know her.

Sirius and Remus had already forced Peter to transform back to human. Moody looked him over and glanced over at the other boys. "Explain." He barked.

"Peter is a traitor. A spy for Voldemort." Sirius announced.

"That is a serious accusation Black." Moody barked.

"How do you know this?" Dumbledore asked, shooting Sirius a warning glance.

"He was caught listening in on our conversation when he was supposed to be upstairs using the bathroom." James explained.

"You didn't realise he was listening in?" Moody asked in disbelief that they could be this careless.

"He is an animagus. He was caught as a rat." James said without thinking.

"He isn't registered. How would you know it was him?" Dumbledore asked sharply. He glared at James, who immediately realised he shouldn't have admitted to knowing that.

"I saw him transform." Hermione stepped in to save him, speaking for the first time. James threw her a grateful look.

"And you are?" Moody asked.

"Hermione Lupin. I moved here from America when my parents died. Remus is my cousin. He didn't have room for me so I'm staying with James and Lily. I was in my room when I heard someone come upstairs. I opened my door just as Peter transformed and listen to their conversation from the top of the stairs." She explained quickly and confidently. Sirius and James were looking as if she had hit them over the head with a heavy book. Remus, however, was beaming proudly and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Well well, unregistered animagus and spy for Voldemort." Moody said, eyeing Peter with distaste.

"They are un…" Peter began, but Hermione cast a silent silencing charm on him before he could explain that James and Sirius were unregistered too.

"Who are what? Moody barked at him. He couldn't speak so just shook his head. "Fine. I will take him in and question him tomorrow Dumbledore." Dumbledore nodded. With that, Moody dragged Peter out of the house. Hermione quickly undid her spell without anyone realising and then turned to face the others.

"A very good story Miss Lupin." Dumbledore beamed at her.

"That was incredible. When did you think of that?" Remus asked her.

"About two minutes ago." She confessed with a small smile.

"Not the smartest witch of your age for nothing huh?" Sirius grinned, enveloping her in a tight hug.

"Thanks for the save as well." James said gratefully. She just chuckled.

"I just delayed the problem. He will spill out that you and Sirius are too when he is questioned tomorrow." She sighed.

"I may have a solution." Dumbledore said. "But for now, I must return to my business. I trust I can request Minerva and Filius to return for some more of you thrilling tale?"

"Of course Professor." Hermione smiled. He disapparated. The others all sat back down on the couch and remaining chairs.

"The nerve of him. Spying on us in our own house." James burst out angrily.

"Yeah. who knew Wormy would ever get a backbone?" Sirius snorted in derision.

"Well, you two weren't exactly behaving normally with him. Even Peter could figure out something was off." Lily told them with a huff.

"Lils. He is the reason we die in the future. The reason our son grows up with no parents, and you expect me to be his friend? Even for a few minutes, that's asking too much." James replied flatly. Lily took his hand and squeezed it gently. Remus smiled at the pair. Hermione leaned back on the sofa.

"At least that is over with. He is locked up and won't pass on any more knowledge." She said.

"Well, he could still get Sirius and James in a lot of trouble." Remus pointed out.

"Dumbledore said he would sort it out. I trust him." Hermione replied quickly. "HIs plans seem mad in the beginning but there is always good reason for them. I learnt that the interesting way." She gave a twisted half smile at the memories that brought back. A few minutes later, Flitwick and McGonagall arrived out of the fireplace, looking around expectantly.

"Well, what happened? Albus didn't say?" McGonagall asked. Hermione gave the cliff notes version and both teachers were flaring their nostrils by the end.

"Good cover story Miss Granger. Shame you weren't a Ravenclaw." Flitwick mused.

"The hat debated on it, but chose Gryffindor instead." She smiled. McGonagall flashed her a rare smile, with a hint of pride in her expression.

"And a very good choice it made too." Sirius beamed.

"Agreed." James said. "My son has good taste in friends." Hermione blushed.

"We should start the story again. Voldemort will soon notice that Peter is missing and know something is wrong. It is more important than ever to get this told so we can begin the journey to kill him for good." Hermione said firmly.

"Let's do this." Remus agreed.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The egg and the Lake.

"OK then. We left off where Sirius wanted to talk to Harry and had just been to the wand weighing ceremony. A couple of days later, the article was published from her interview with Harry. She had twisted everything he said, making it sound like he often went to pieces."

"Honestly. This woman is ridiculous." Lily huffed.

"Yes. One Hogsmeade weekend, Harry went under the cloak to get away from everyone."

"Oh really. We do need to keep a better eye on the student Filius. Nobody should resort to walking round invisible to escape rude comments." McGonagall cried, looking angry.

"I agree Minerva." He sighed. This really was getting out of hand.

"We sat in the three broomsticks and Moody spotted Harry. He had a magical eye that could see through invisibility cloaks. He told Hagrid that Harry was there and Hagrid asked him to go down to his hut at midnight that night."

"He doesn't want help with the screwts, does he?" Remus asked nervously. Hermione chuckled.

"No. He didn't. He actually took Harry, under the cloak, and Madame Maxime to see some dragons. Fully grown dragons."

"He should have taken the screwts." Sirius groaned. "Why on earth does he have fully grown dragons?"

"He didn't. They were for the first Triwizard task."

"What?!" Lily shrieked. "My fourteen year old son has to deal with a fully grown dragon?" She fumed. Hermione nodded mutely.

"For goodness sake, is there no protection for him? He is just a kid." James said, looking outraged.

"I'm not sure Harry was ever 'just a kid' James." Hermione told him softly. "Not many others could do what he had done by that age. Especially with his upbringing."

"How can Crouch and Dumbledore expect Harry to do this? Especially when the other people are all of age." Sirius asked.

"I can't believe they let him compete." McGonagall said, looking pale and worried.

"Well, Hagrid was asking about the types and Harry was in too much shock to register a lot. Charlie Weasley had helped bring them over from Romania. Harry soon left because he was supposed to be meeting Sirius in the Gryffindor common room. On the way back he bumped into Karkaroff, who was trying to find out what the first task was to tell Krum."

"The cheat." James scowled.

"Harry is cheating." Remus pointed out mildly.

"Yeah, but he didn't know that." James argued.

"Krum doesn't know Karkaroff is." Lily reminded him.

"Probably does." Sirius muttered.

"When he got back to the common room, he was just in time to see Sirius' head in the fireplace. He told Harry that Karkaroff was a death eater and escaped Azkaban by giving the Ministry names. It was possible that he was the one who put Harry's name in the Goblet. He then tried to warn him a simple spell would help him with the dragons but before he could tell him what it was, Ron interrupted them and Sirius had to vanish, in case it was a teacher."

"Oh great. It's not enough that he has to be a world class jerk to Harry he is now ruining his chance at getting help." James growled.

"I spent the next days in the library with Harry desperately trying to find a simple, useful spell. Being Harry, he decided that Cedric was the only champion not to know about the dragons. So he wanted to tell him to make sure it was all on an even footing." Sirius ' and James' jaws dropped.

"Is he insane?" James asked, recovering first.

"No. He is just fair." Lily beamed.

"But he is already at a disadvantage. He should keep a little bit of an advantage if he can get it." Remus groaned.

"He is certainly a wonderful boy." McGonagall said, smiling down at the baby Harry. He grinned back toothily.

"He is." Hermione agreed. "Too noble for his own good sometimes. So, he managed to tip off Cedric and got caught by Moody. Moody then offered him advice to play to his strengths. Harry realised he needed his broom and he could fly past the dragon."

"Genius!" James crowed. "Get him on a broom and he will be fine."

"Still facing a fully grown dragon." Lily said nervously.

"I spent all night teaching Harry to do a summoning charm because he was only allowed his wand at the start of the task. He finally managed it and we both went to bed. Next day, they went down to the Champion's tent where they picked out which dragon they would take on. Harry got a Hungarian Horntail."

"Holy crap. You can't be serious?" Remus asked, eyes wide. Hermione just nodded sadly.

"Don't say things like that Remus." Lily groaned.

"Bagman then offered Harry help."

"He shouldn't be doing that." Flitwick said disapprovingly.

"Harry turned it down. He knew what to do. Harry was also last to perform. When he finally got out, he summoned his broom and flew around the dragon. it took him a few minutes but he managed to tease it enough to lift off so he could dive down and grab the golden egg that they had to collect. He got a gash on the shoulder, but other than that he was absolutely fine." Hermione said in a rush. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god." Lily whispered.

"He did it!" James grinned gleefully.

"Incredible." McGonagall whispered.

"Ron and Harry then made up and we went to get Harry's marks. He got joint first place with Krum."

"Wow." Said Remus in a hushed voice. "That is one special kid."

"Naturally. He is mine." James boasted.

"We went back to the castle to send a note to Sirius, who was keeping Remus informed." Hermione told them.

"Thanks Padfoot."

"No trouble Moony."

"Harry opened the egg in the common room. It was supposed to contain the next clue, but it just made a horrible shrieking sound. Fred and George told me the way to the kitchen."

"You didn't find the kitchen until fourth year?" James asked, looking aghast. Hermione shrugged. "Good gracious I need to teach my son a few things."

"No!" Lily and McGonagall cried together.

"We had a great house party that night. During one Care of magical creatures lesson, Skeeter came over and wanted to interview Hagrid. He agreed, idiot, and it wasn't a great lesson. He tried to find out if the screwts hibernated. They don't. Afterwards, I dragged Harry and Ron down to the kitchen where I had been visiting the house elves. Dobby was now working there with Winky, Mr Crouch's old elf."

"Dobby? Isn't he the crazy elf that nearly killed Harry trying to save his life?" Sirius asked, frowning slightly.

"Yep. He was delighted to see Harry again. Winky wasn't coping well being away from Crouch. She just got drunk and cried a lot. She said Bagman was a bad man."

"Bagman? Weird." Remus frowned.

"As christmas approached, Professor McGonagall told us that on christmas night there would be the Yule Ball. Harry had to open the dance. All the champions did."

"Oh no." Lily sighed.

"What?" James asked.

"If he is anything like you I feel very sorry for his date. You have two left feet."

"I do not!" James said indignantly. Hermione laughed.

"Then he is just like James."

"Were you his date?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrow. Hermione blushed but shook her head.

"Harry wanted to ask Cho Chang, a girl the year above us, but he was too nervous. Ron didn't have a clue who to day, Harry finally got the guts to ask her, but she was already going to Cedric. So he ended up going with Parvati Patil, a girl in my dormitory. Ron asked Fleur, the Beauxbatons champion who was part Veela."

"Oops." Chuckled Sirius.

"She turned him down. As he got desperate, he decided I was a girl so he could get me to go with one of them." Sirius noted her slightly wistful tone and frowned.

"You shouldn't be his last resort." He growled.

"I was. But someone had already asked me and I said yes."

"Who?" Lily asked eagerly.

"Krum."

"Bulgarian international seeker?" James asked. Hermione nodded and Sirius felt a stab of jealousy.

"I refused to tell them who is was because I knew they would probably make fun. Christmas that year was really good. Harry, the Weasley's and myself had a massive snowball fight. The ball was incredible. Viktor was a great dancer as well. Good thing too, he covered for me. Ron and Harry got sick on dancing, so they went walking outside as soon as Harry had done his obligated amount of dancing. They overheard Hagrid admitting to Maxime that he is half giant. They also heard Snape and Karkaroff talking about something getting clearer. Snape told him to flee. Just before they went to bed, Cedric caught up with him and told Harry to put the egg in the water."

"At least he is trying to help Harry in return." Lily smiled.

"He seems a very nice boy as well." McGonagall smiled.

"Harry came into the common room to find me an Ron arguing. Ron was angry about me going to the ball with Krum so I told him to ask me first next time instead of a last resort."

"Good for you." James smiled. "Lily was always my first choice."

"Kept turning you down though." Sirius chuckled.

"Worth the effort in the end." He grinned.

"I'm still undecided." Lily smiled wickedly. James pouted.

"After christmas we had Professor Grubbly-Plank take over Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid had apparently locked himself in his cabin. Rita Skeeter printed an article about him being half giant, making him out to be a ferocious monster who terrorised his students."

"How dare she!" Exclaimed Lily.

"Malfoy gave her loads of fake information to print. Apparently she had also overheard him talking about being half giant. Hagrid refused to come out of his cabin, even to talk to us."

"Poor Hagrid." Lily sighed.

"It's not right." Remus growled.

"We know Remus." Hermione told him sadly. "We were in the Three Broomsticks one day and Bagman offered Harry help again, which he declined. Apparently he wasn't helping Cedric either. Then we met Rita Skeeter who annoyed us so much we ran back to Hagrid's and threatened to break his door down if he didn't talk to us."

"Go 'Mione." Cheered James and Sirius.

"Professor Dumbledore opened the door, and let us in. He was trying to convince Hagrid to come out as well. Between us all we got him to agree to teach again."

"Well done Miss Granger." Flitwick smiled.

"One night, Harry decided to test out Cedric's tip and went to the prefects bathroom under the cloak."

"Good job he got that." James commented.

"Saved us many times." Hermione agreed. "When he got in it turned out Moaning Myrtle was there too. She helped him and when he put the egg under the water it was a song."

"Merpeople." Remus breathed.

"Yes. It said that he had to find them and get back something they had taken from him. It also gave a time limit of an hour. He worked out they were merpeople, his only problem, breathing underwater for an hour. On his way back to the common room he saw a dot labelled Barty Crouch on the map, in Snape's office. This was really strange, because Crouch was supposed to be really ill."

"What on earth would he be in Snively's office for?" Sirius sneered.

"Watch it Black." Lily threatened. "No need to be rude."

"Plenty of need." He muttered so she couldn't hear him.

"Harry went to investigate. Unfortunately he got caught in a trick stair and dropped the egg which started screeching. Flich found it an assumed Peeve's had stolen it. Snape joined him as he had noticed somebody in his office and wanted Filch to help him look. Then Moody joined the party."

"Oh no. He can see Harry." Groaned James.

"Harry had dropped the map which Moody signalled to Snape. Thankfully Harry caught Moody's attention and Moody summoned it before Snape could see. Snape and Filch headed off and Moody helped Harry out of the stairs. He asked if he could borrow the map, which Harry agreed to as thanks for saving him. Moody returned Harry's egg as well and sent him back to bed."

"No detention? Wow!" Sirius breathed.

"Ron and I helped Harry in the library again to find a way to breathe underwater for an hour. We searched for days and found nothing. Sirius wanted to meet us in Hogsmeade next time we went."

"Padfoot, be careful." James warned.

"I'm always careful." Sirius grinned. Remus snorted.

"The night before the task, Ron and I had to go and see Professor McGonagall and left Harry alone. He fell asleep in the library and almost was late to the task. Thankfully Dobby showed up in time to wake him up and give him gillyweed."

"Brilliant." Remus grinned.

"He just made it and they dived into the lake. Percy was one of the judges instead of Crouch this time. Harry swallowed the gillyweed and it made him grow gills and flippers. He made it past some grindylows and to the merpeople first. He had to recover Ron. Again, Harry wanted to play the hero and make sure everybody got to safety. The song said if the champion went over the time limit the thing taken wouldn't come back and he took it seriously."

"Oh. He thought you would be left down there?" Lily sighed.

"Silly boy. Dumbledore wouldn't let students die." Remus shook his head.

"Cedric turned up and took Cho without hesitation. Krum came and took me." Hermione blushed as she said this and Sirius scowled again. "Fleur never turned up so he took her sister back to the surface with Ron. The gillyweed ran out, but he just made it out ok."

"Two down." James grinned.

"Yeah. The last one is where all the trouble will be." Groaned Lily.

"Please let me enjoy my son's triumph a little while before saying things like that." James grumbled.

"He was awarded second place for his 'strong moral fibre'." Hermione laughed.

"Even when he is an idiot, it pays off." Sirius laughed.

"Ron said the same thing." Hermione chuckled. "After all that excitement came our visit to Hogsmeade and to see Sirius. Although, in between Skeeter published an article that made it seem like there was a love triangle between me, Harry and Krum."

"I'm really sick of her stirring trouble." Scowled Sirius.

"We all are." Lily frowned.

"One potions lesson Snape accused Harry of stealing ingredients from his cupboard. He threatened him with veritaserum."

"He is lucky he hasn't actually done anything yet." James growled. "Or I would go and curse him right now." Lily seemed to be of a similar mind, her hand twitching towards her wand.

"Finally we went to see Sirius. It was good to see him again. We discussed Crouch and his sacking of Winky. He told us it was Crouch who put him in azkaban without a trial."

"What?" James yelped, looking furious. "I know he wants to catch death eaters but that is outrageous." Sirius looked too stunned to speak.

"Apparently Crouch's son was caught with a bunch of death eaters and put in azkaban. It ruined his reputation and that's why Fudge became Minister for Magic."

"His son is a death eater?" McGonagall asked, horrified. Hermione nodded.

"Sirius tried to get us to picture how things were, or are now I guess, and explained how Crouch's son was caught. He died in azkaban. Sirius wanted us to ask Percy, Crouch's personal assistant, if he knew what was wrong with Crouch. We promised to send him food and then we had to go."

"Thanks." Sirius grinned gratefully.

"First thing we did was go to the kitchen. Partly to give Dobby a present for helping Harry, and partly to ask for food to send you." Hermione laughed.

"He actually helped without getting him injured as well." James said in amazement.

"We tried to ask Winky if she knew what was wrong with Crouch, but that just sent her into an even worse state. I decided to take out a subscription of the Daily Prophet because finding out everything from the Slytherins was getting very annoying. Unfortunately, I got a load of hate mail over the Skeeter article. They all thought I was messing Harry around even though we were actually just friends."

"Idiots." Sirius growled.

"Someone sent bubotuber pus so I had to miss Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. I decided to try and find out how she was listening to all these conversations she wasn't supposed to know about. Professor Dumbledore had banned her from the grounds, yet she was still getting interviews and stories."

"Skeeter's in trouble." Sirius gloated gleefully.

"Watch out, Hermione is on the case." Grinned James. Hermione blushed slightly.

"One day Harry got told to go down to the Quidditch pitch that night where Bagman would tell them what the third task was going to be. They had turned the pitch into a maze. The cup would be in the middle and first champion there won. Harry and Cedric were tied for first place so they would enter the maze first."

"Great. He can meet all the horrible obstacles first." Groaned Lily.

"Please stop being so negative. My nerves can't take much more." James begged.

"After they were done Krum wanted to talk to Harry. They went to the edge of the forest and Krum asked him what there was between me and Harry. He assured him we were just friends. Once he was happy with that he told Harry he flew really well. Then they heard a noise behind them."

"Great. Somebody puts Harry's name in the Goblet, he wanders off alone with the Durmstrang champion and now they are ambushed." Sirius cried.

"No. It was Mr Crouch. He was completely crazy. He kept switching between sane and scared stiff, desperate to speak to Professor Dumbledore, and crazy where he babbled about nonsense. Harry left him with Krum and ran to fetch the Professor. By the time they got back, Krum had been stunned and Crouch had vanished."

"So close." Remus breathed.

"Harry figured they weren't after him. They had waited until he had gone before making a move."

"That doesn't make me feel any better." Sirius sighed.

"Moody appeared and went to search the grounds. Karkaroff and Hagrid also showed up. Hagrid took Harry back to the common room and told him off for going off alone with Krum."

"Thank you Hagrid." Lily breathed.

"Karkaroff was ballistic that someone had attacked Krum. When he got back, Harry quickly filled me and Ron in on everything."

"God, nothing like a peaceful year with you lot is there?" Lily complained.

"Definitely not." Hermione laughed. "We should really finish this year and start the fifth tonight. We need to get this done as soon as possible." Everyone nodded in agreement.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Voldemort Returns

"So, the three of us spent the next few days discussing what had happened. Crouch had told Harry that Voldemort was getting stronger. We then went to send a letter to Sirius and met the twins. They kept talking about starting their own joke shop."

"Brilliant." Breathed James and Sirius.

"If they do that in this time I will definitely help them out." James grinned.

"Oh lord." Lily groaned.

"We can give them tips Prongs." Sirius grinned. McGonagall buried her face in her hands.

"Why are all the troublemakers in my house?" She sighed.

"It takes Gryffindor bravery to risk your wrath." Remus quipped. Everyone burst out laughing. Just then Dumbledore emerged from the flames and seated himself in a vacant chair next to Flitwick.

"My apologies." He smiled at Hermione.

"As Moody helped search the grounds we decided to ask him if he had found anything."

"Of course you did." Remus rolled his eyes.

"Just like your mother." McGonagall told baby Harry who waved at her.

"Moody told us to let it go. Sirius wrote back next day telling Harry to swear he wouldn't stray out of bounds." Lily gaped at Sirius.

"Who are you and what will you do to Sirius Black?" She asked in astonishment.

"I'm all for breaking rules and sneaking out Lilypad, but not when it's my Godson's life on the line." He told her seriously. (Pun intended.)

"Maybe you are a reasonable choice after all." She conceded. James beamed at her and Sirius looked shocked.

"The next few weeks were spent helping Harry master spells and jinxes. Stunning, disarming, things like that. Unfortunately, it meant him practicing on me and Ron. During Divination Harry fell asleep."

"Who doesn't?" Sirius snorted.

"People who actually learn things in class." Remus sighed.

"So...nobody." James grinned. Lily smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow." He complained. Harry gurgled with laughter so Lily did it again. "Hey!" James cried and Harry laughed again. "Thanks a bunch, son." He grumbled.

"He dreamt that Peter was with Voldemort. Something had gone wrong and Peter had made a mistake."

"Naturally." James snarled.

"An eagle arrived saying the mistake had been fixed so Voldemort didn't feed Peter to Nagini,"

"Shame." Sighed Sirius.

"his snake, instead saying she could have Harry." Hermione continued.

"She can not." Lily growled.

"Harry decided to go and tell Professor Dumbledore, so he left his lesson to go to him. As he approached he heard Moody and Fudge in his office. Fudge was trying to blame Madam Maxime because she was also half giant and he is prejudice. Moody saw Harry through the door so he went in, saying he hadn't seen Madam Maxime anywhere and she would have had trouble hiding."

"Good boy." James smiled, ruffling Harry's hair. "You show those ignorant people." Remus beamed over at the pair.

"They left Harry in the office while they went to search the grounds. Professor Dumbledore had left his pensive open and being Harry, he saw it and went to investigate. He saw Karkaroff's trial. He was giving a list of death eater names to free himself from Azkaban. Snape, Rosier, Travers, Mulciber, people like that."

"All of whom were in Snape's little group at school." Snarled Sirius. Lily looked down at her hands sadly and James wrapped his arms around her in comfort.

"Then, he saw Bagman at a trial. Apparently he had been passing information to death eaters. Bagman claimed it had been a family friend and he didn't know."

"They all claim things like that. However, I can't see Bagman as a death eater." Remus frowned.

"Me either." McGonagall agreed.

"He got off. He then saw a trial with Mr Crouch's son in. He had been caught with Bellatrix Lestrange and a couple of other death eaters. They were accused…" Hermione took a deep breath. "Of using the Cruciatus curse to torture Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity." She said the last part in a rush, as if that would make it less unpleasant.

"No!" Gasped Lily, her hand flying to her mouth. McGonagall paled and even Dumbledore looked both stunned and upset. James just gripped Lily tighter to him as she cried on his shoulder. Frank had shared a dorm with the marauders and they were all close friends.

"A fate worse than death." Dumbledore breathed to himself.

"Poor Neville." Remus breathed. Lily began to cry harder at that. McGonagall drew a handkerchief to dab at her eyes. Hermione let them grieve for a minute.

"They were sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban. Professor Dumbledore then found Harry and took him out of the pensive. Harry then told him what had happened in his dream. The Professor said he had also been writing to Sirius and knew Harry's scar had hurt over the summer. And then we started practising for the third task again. Sirius had begun writing daily."

"I'm glad he has you Padfoot." James smiled at his best friend.

"Me too." Sirius said earnestly.

"Yes. Sirius was a marvelous help to Harry." Hermione smiled. "One morning another article emerged about Harry collapsing in Divination, saying he was probably disturbed."

"How did she find out about that?" Lily asked angrily, drying her eyes. Hermione gave a mischievous smile but didn't answer.

"I suddenly had an idea about how she could be doing it so I ran off to the library. While I was there, Professor McGonagall came over to Harry and told him the champion's families would be gathering just off the hall after breakfast. Harry wasn't going to go because he knew the Dursleys wouldn't turn up."

James and Lily exchanged sad glances. Sirius also looked miserable because he couldn't visit Harry as the closest thing to family as he was still a fugitive. If only he hadn't been so damn hotheaded and gone after Pettigrew.

"Cedric came out and told Harry they were waiting. It turned out the Weasley's had come instead."

"Aww. Bless Molly." Lily snuffled, her head resting on James' shoulder.

"They had a great day touring the castle together. At dinner Harry had to explain that I wasn't his girlfriend because Mrs Weasley had been reading witch weekly."

"Hmph." McGonagall snorted in disgust.

"That night was the third task. The maze." Everyone exchanged worried looks. "Harry and Cedric were tied for first place so they both entered together. For the first part Harry didn't meet anything. That bothered him more than meeting obstacles."

"I'm not surprised. They wouldn't go very far without putting something in his way." Remus said, looking pale.

"He was using the 'Point me' spell to go in the right direction."

"Good choice." James smiled, patting his son on the head.

"He then met Cedric who had just escaped Hagrid's blast ended skrewts."

"They let those things into the maze?" Lily asked, looking horrified. Hermione just nodded solemnly, which made them all more scared for Harry.

"Soon after that he met a Dementor. He conjured a patronus before realising it was a boggart. He got rid of that fine."

"Thank Remus." Lily heaved a sigh of relief. Remus beamed that his teaching was now really helping Harry in dangerous situations.

"Then he met a patch of golden mist. He heard Fleur scream and decided to run through it. When he went through it it turned the world upside down. He tried lifting his foot which righted everything and ran on."

"Very good, Potter." Flitwick complimented.

"Next he met a blast ended skrewt. He managed to use the Impedimenta jinx on its soft underbelly to get away without a scratch. As he got away, he heard Krum use the cruciatus curse on Cedric."

"My god!" Gasped Lily. All the teachers looked horrified. Sirius and James looked murderous.

"Harry forced his way through the hedge and stunned Krum. Then he sent up red sparks so a teacher could come and collect Krum while he and Cedric carried on."

"Two down, if Fleur screamed and hasn't been heard of since. Just Harry and Cedric for the cup. Harry can do this." Sirius encouraged to all the scared faces around him. They all smiled weakly at him.

"They both split up again. Harry then met a sphinx."

"Bloody hell." James groaned while Flitwick smiled.

"He got past just fine, James." Hermione assured him.

"Thank god he got his mother's brains." Remus smirked. Lily laughed.

"He could finally see the cup but Cedric was ahead of him. Suddenly a giant spider came onto the pathway in front of them. Cedric hurtled past it and Harry tried casting stunning spells on it."

"Won't work on an acromantula." Remus groaned.

"It didn't. The spider picked him up. He tired disarming it, which worked, but it meant he got dropped twelve feet onto an already injured leg which crumpled."

Lily and James clutched each other closer while Sirius grabbed baby Harry as if to check he was still ok.

"He and Cedric stunned it at the same time which did work and it was stunned. They then both argued over which one of them would take the cup. Cedric wanted Harry to have it for helping him with the egg and saving his life in the maze."

"Hufflepuff sense of fairness." Lily smiled.

"Harry said Cedric had helped him with the lake task and they fought the spider together so they were even. Cedric had gotten there first so he should take it."

"Harry's odd sense of fairness." Sirius commented dryly.

"Given how he grew up, Harry is a remarkable boy." McGonagall agreed with a smile. "I'm proud to have him in my house. You too Miss Granger."

"I'm proud to be in your house." Hermione told her, returning the smile. "They agreed to both take the cup together as it would still be a Hogwarts victory."

"Great idea boys." Remus beamed. Hermione tried for a smile, but couldn't do it. This next bit would be the hardest yet and it was only going to get worse. Sirius noticed her expression and grew worried. He knew it wouldn't be as simple as getting the cup and getting out.

"When they took the cup, it transported them to a graveyard."

"A portkey?" Dumbledore asked. Hermione nodded. They drew wands and saw a figure. Harry's scar burned and a voice said '_Kill the spare.'_ Cedric was murdered." She said, holding back her own tears.

"Good god." McGonagall exclaimed, clutching at her robes in shock. Everyone was staring, horrified, at Hermione.

"The spy at Hogwarts. Whoever put Harry's name in the cup was leading up to this." Sirius whispered.

"The figure tied Harry against a headstone and he saw it was Pettigrew." James, Sirius and Remus paled in unison and their face grew to identical masks of rage.

"I don't care if he is in custody, I'm going to murder the bastard." Sirius growled, but his voice was drowned out by James.

"HOW DARE HE! We looked after the scum all through school and this is how he thanks us. Betraying me and Lily and now killing an innocent boy." James' voice was met by deafening silence. Remus was silent, but his face gave away his anger and hatred. James and Sirius were on their feet, wands in hands before anyone could blink.

"Sirius. No!" Hermione cried. "He hasn't done this yet. Harry is just fine." She reminded him, pointing to the baby on Lily's lap.

"I don't care. He has already joined them, the damage has been done." Sirius growled.

"Think about it, Black. If a prisoner, already in custody, is murdered there will be a full investigation. If they prove it was you, you will lose your place in auror training and go to Azkaban. Do you really want that?" Lily asked him.

"Mrs Potter is correct." Flitwick said. "You cannot murder him."

"Permanent, serious injury?" James asked with the ghost of a grin.

"Or a permanent, James injury?" Sirius replied with a quirk of his lips. The teachers all shook their heads.

"So, Wormtail put something in a cauldron, then added a bone, apparently from Tom Riddle's father. He then cut off his own right hand as '_Flesh of the servant willingly given, you will revive your master.' _The whole room gasped in shock.

"He literally gave his right hand for the man?" James asked, his tone full of disbelief. "Peter we know, who cries at a papercut, sliced his whole hand off?" Hermione nodded grimly.

"That's…" Sirius began, but he was lost for words. How could they have drifted apart so much that they didn't even know what their old friend was capable of?

"Disgusting? Vile? Unbelievable?" Offered Remus.

"All of the above." Lily muttered, looking slightly green

"He then used Harry's blood to complete the job." Dumbledore's eyes flashed with victory and worry in equal measure.

"Peter took my son's blood to bring back that evil bastard?" Lily snarled. She drew her wand, conjured a dummy and blew it to smithereens. Everyone edged away from her slightly.

"Language…" Sirius started, trying to lighten the mood. Lily just waved her wand at him and his mouth became glued shut.

"With the potion complete, Voldemort had a new body of his own." Hermione stated. The room seemed to darken of its own accord.

"My fourteen year old son, just had to watch the world's darkest, most evil wizard, be resurrected. He even played a part in it?" James' voice was a strangled whisper. He clutched Harry tightly against his chest and enveloped Lily in a huge hug as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"My poor baby." She whispered.

"That poor boy. Most fully grown wizards wouldn't be able to handle that." McGonagall exclaimed, looking sickened and horrified. Sirius and Remus just sat, blank faced, gaping. Suddenly they both got up and joined the hug with James, Lily and Harry. All five of them clung to each other, four making sure Harry was ok.

"Voldemort put on robes and Wormtail gave him his wand. He then summoned his death eaters, and finally greeted them all. He gave Wormtail a new silver hand."

"He what?" Dumbledore asked sharply. Hermione repeated what she had said and they all looked angry.

"Should have left him with a stump." Sirius growled through gritted teeth, once Hermione had removed the spell on him.

"He then wanted to duel Harry." Everyone stared at her open mouthed. The now familiar look of horror was on everyone's face.

"Remember what I said when Harry bought his wand." Dumbledore reminded them and everyone relaxed very slightly.

"He refused to bow to Voldemort and threw of his imperius curse when Voldemort tried to make him."

"He threw off Voldemort's imperius?" Remus asked in awe.

"My son is absolutely incredible." James said, his voice held the same amount of awe that was written on everyone's face.

"Even fully grown wizards can't do that." Sirius grinned down at his godson and ruffled his hair. "Atta boy Prongslet."

"As Voldemort went for the kill," Everyone flinched. "Harry tried disarming and the spells collided. A golden net or something erupted around them and the wands were connected by a line." Everyone glanced at Dumbledore, who smiled. "Voldemort's wand began emitting shadowy figures. Cedric, Bertha Jorkins, a muggle that Harry saw in his dream at the start of the year, and you two." Hermione looked over at James and Lily.

"Priori Incantatem." Dumbledore said simply.

"Are they ghosts?" Sirius asked.

"No. Neither ghost or living. An echo of the last spells the wand performed. They were the recent murders of that wand." He explained.

"Cedric asked Harry to return his body to his parents. Lily told Harry to break the connection and the echos would distract Voldemort long enough for Harry to get away." It worked. He broke it, ran to Cedric's body, summoned the cup and got transported back to Hogwarts."

"Oh thank goodness that's over. I can't believe my poor boy went through that all alone." Lily was sobbing into James' shoulder again.

"When he got back, it took everyone a few seconds to realise Cedric was dead. Harry immediately told Professor Dumbledore that Voldemort was back. Harry doesn't remember much, it was a confusing blur. Everyone was frantic because of Cedric and in the confusion Moody led Harry away."

"He took him from my side?" Dumbledore asked. "Alastor would never."

"The spy? Moody? That's impossible." Sirius said.

"Well, Harry told him that Voldemort was back, and part of what happened in the graveyard. Moody gave him a pepperup potion. He then told him that Karkaroff had fled. After the names he had given in, he would not be welcome back. Moody made him realise that it had been him who put Harry's name in the Goblet. He told him how to get past the dragon and suggested to Cedric how to work out the egg so he would tell Harry."

"No. This can't be happening." Sirius growled. "Moody would never."

"Moody had been patrolling the maze that night and blasted a lot of the obstacles out of Harry's way. He put the imperius on Krum so he would attack Fleur and Cedric. He was about to kill Harry for Voldemort when the door blasted open and Professor Dumbledore came in."

"Thank you." Lily gasped gratefully.

"My pleasure." Dumbledore gave a tight smile.

"They waited a few minutes and he began to change. It wasn't Moody. He had been imprisoned at the bottom of his trunk the whole year. It was Barty Crouch junior drinking polyjuice potion."

"I thought he died?" Remus asked.

"I don't care, the kid needs to go to Azkaban now." James hissed in anger. "He almost got my son killed throughout the year. He made sure my son was used to resurrect Voldemort." His voice died off, trying not to think.

"The Professor gave Crouch veritaserum. He then told them how his father had smuggled him out of Azkaban, disguised as his mother as Mrs Crouch's drying wish. He kept his son under the imperius curse and at home. Winky looked after him. He began to fight the curse. At the world cup, he was in the seat supposedly saved for Mr Crouch, under an invisibility cloak. He stole Harry's wand in the top box."

"Forget Azkaban. I want to kill him with my bare hands." James' face was red with fury. His glasses lopsided on his face and he looked scary.

"James calm down. You are scaring Harry." Lily told him. He immediately looked contrite and sat back down, taking Harry into his lap to sooth the crying baby. Hermione took Sirius' hand and squeezed it gently.

"Soon after, Voldemort came to the house. Bertha Jorkins had seen him in the house. Mr Crouch had wiped her memory, but while she was in Albania, Voldemort broke through the spell. He found out about the tournament and that his faithful servant was still alive. He set Crouch junior free and put Mr Crouch under the imperius curse."

"And nobody noticed?" Asked Lily incredulously. "Percy was joined at Crouch's hip wasn't he? How did nobody noticed he was under a curse?"

"I don't know. The Ministry infiltrated and not one person could tell the difference." James said in disgust.

"Then, he went to Moody, kept him in the trunk so he could keep making polyjuice potion for the year."

"Poor Moody. Bet that didn't help his paranoia." Sirius muttered.

"Not at all." Hermione gave him a half smile. "He then put Harry's name in the cup and helped him through the tournament. When he took the map from Harry, he saw his father when he arrived at Hogwarts. It had been him stealing from Snape's store, but the map showed his true name, not Alastor Moody."

"It's good like that." James said fondly.

"Impressive magic." Lily told him.

"Thanks Lilypad."

"Don't call me that." She snapped.

"When Mr Crouch came to Hogwarts, he waited until Harry ran off, stunned Krum, and then killed his father."

"He killed his own father?" Lily gasped.

"Professor McGonagall stood guard by Crouch as Professor Dumbledore took Harry to his office."

"No!" You can't question him about that tonight. You can't make him relive that again." James cried. "He is just a fourteen year old boy Professor."

"It would be best for him to do that straight away. Then, he can never have to relive it again if he doesn't wish to. It is better than leaving him and making him do it in the morning." Dumbledore explained.

"Sirius was waiting in the office,"

"Thank goodness he has you." James heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you Padfoot."

"Anytime. I wouldn't miss being with Harry for this." Sirius told him sincerely.

"Sirius argued that Harry should just go to bed, but Professor Dumbledore made him retell the story. Then he took him to the hospital wing, where the Weasley's and I were waiting. Sirius stayed with him in dog form." Sirius grinned at her.

"About time I was some use." He sighed.

"You were a lot of use." She told him. "Harry was given a potion for dreamless sleep. Later he woke up to hear Professor McGonagall yelling that Fudge had allowed a Dementor onto school grounds and it had kissed Crouch Junior."

Dumbledore looked furious.

"The fool just destroyed crucial evidence." Flitwick cried.

"Yes he did. Fudge didn't believe that Voldemort had returned. He believed Skeeter's articles and thought he was unhinged."

"No!" Hissed James and SIrius.

"How can he not believe it?" McGonagall asked, incredulous.

"I knew Skeeter was too much trouble." Remus growled.

"Everyone tried to argue with Fudge, but he just refused to believe his perfect world was shattering."

"The power hungry, idiot fool is going to get us all killed." McGonagall cried in horror.

"How did he ever become Minister for Magic?" Lily asked in shock.

"I'm still not sure." Hermione answered with a grimace. "He gave Harry his winnings and left. Professor Dumbledore sent Sirius to start alerting the Order and Snape back to Voldemort. He also wanted to see Hagrid and Madam Maxime about a mission. Just before Harry went to sleep I finally managed to complete my mission."

"What mission?" Sirius asked. The last few minutes had driven everything from their minds.

"About Rita Skeeter. Next morning, Harry spoke to the Diggorys and we saw Hagrid. At the end of term feast, Professor Dumbledore told everyone what had happened to Cedric. We all said goodbye to the foreign students."

"Did Krum say goodbye?" James asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Hermione blushed.

"He invited me to visit him in Bulgaria." She admitted. Sirius felt another stab of jealousy. "Ron finally got his autograph. On the train I finally admitted how I caught Skeeter. She is an unregistered animagus. She could turn into a beetle and listen in on private conversations. She could also talk to and get false interviews with the Slytherins."

"Smart, but annoying." Sirius sighed.

"I threatened to expose her unless she stopped writing." Hermione grinned. The teachers looked torn between amusement and stern, while the marauders all beamed.

"Atta girl." Sirius chuckled.

"Harry forced the twins to take his winnings to help start their joke shop."

"No!" Cried McGonagall. "They don't need help causing trouble. Or helping other cause trouble.

"Good boy Harry." James congratulated.

"Well done." Sirius grinned.

"End of our fourth year." Hermione announced.

"One hell of a year. I still can't believe it." James said in a hoarse whisper.

"That is crazy." Sirius agreed. Hermione grimaced, realising that when she recounted their fifth year she would have to explain that Sirius died. Definitely a problem for tomorrow.

"I know that was crazily, mentally exhausting, but can we start fifth year?" Hermione asked them. Everyone nodded warily. They knew it was only going to get worse.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Order of the Phoenix part 1

Hermione looked around at all of them, grim faced. Each year was only going to get harder. She looked down at her notes and remembered how angry Harry had been at them all keeping secrets from him. Sirius squeezed her hand and she took a deep breath.

"Ok. Start of this year, Harry was back at the Dursley's. Professor Dumbledore had told Ron and I we couldn't tell Harry anything in case the owls were intercepted so he had no real news from the wizarding world."

"You left him alone to deal with everything that happened to him at the end of last year? What were you thinking?" James cried, grasping little Harry closer to him.

"It does makes sense not to put it in a letter." Remus said slowly.

"So get one of us to apparate to Harry and talk to him." Sirius suggested with an annoyed look at the headmaster.

"One day he was trying to listen to the muggle news for mysterious deaths or disappearances."

"Too soon Harry." Remus sighed. "Voldemort just came back and the first thing you did was tell Professor Dumbledore. While the Ministry aren't doing anything he will keep a low profile."

"Very good Mr Lupin." Dumbledore smiled at him.

"The Dursley's were suspicious, so he had to hide from them to actually hear the news. He ended up hiding in the bushes underneath the open window. As he was getting up from the bushes there was a loud crack of someone disapparating. His uncle got mad because he thought Harry made the noise so Harry went for a walk as he had spent most of the summer doing."

"You let him wander around the streets alone, unable to do magic?" Lily asked, incredulous.

"He wasn't exactly alone." Hermione muttered. "Professor Dumbledore had wizards trailing him."

"But they couldn't even speak to him to give him news?" Sirius cried out, indignant on his godson's behalf.

Hermione scowled over at Dumbledore and they decided that was answer enough. "On his way he met Dudley and his gang. Dudley taunted him about his nightmares."

"What a scumbag. If he knew what Harry had really gone through he wouldn't be making jokes." Sirius said, his face flushed in anger.

"Oh Harry." Lily cried, clutching her son close. "You poor boy." James was pale.

"As he and his cousin were walking it suddenly got very cold and dark even though it was middle of summer."

"Dementors? In a muggle suburb?" Lily asked in hushed tones. Hermione nodded.

"They attacked. Harry managed to do a patronus so both he and Dudley were ok."

"Again, a really goo thing you taught him Remus." Lily breathed. Remus just nodded, glad he was able to help poor Harry.

"What about those wizards you said were protecting him?" James growled, but he was glaring at Dumbledore.

"Well, Mundungus was watching him. He disapparated when Harry was in the bush."

"He was on duty, after everything Harry went though, and he left my son alone?" Lily shrieked. James' face grew red and his hand twitched towards his wand.

"I'm gonna kill Dung." Sirius hissed through gritted teeth. All the Professors looked equally angry and stunned.

"You let him guard Harry?" McGonagall asked, looking at Dumbledore in shock. He looked sombre, but didn't answer.

"Anyway, Mrs Figg found him and escorted him and Dudley home. The Dursley's blamed Harry, who did try to explain what happened. Then he got an owl saying he hand been expelled for underage magic."

"WHAT?" Roared James, forgetting the baby next to him. "You are allowed to use magic to protect yourself." He snarled. Just then, baby Harry started crying and James picked him up, rocking him gently.

"If he wanted to do anything to his cousin it would not be a patronus charm." Scoffed Remus.

Well, really. What is the Ministry turning into. They don't expel students for underage magic." Squeaked Flitwick.

"It was the second time. He also got in trouble for Dobby using the hovering charm."

"Damn." James cursed.

"Mr Weasley then sent an owl saying Professor Dumbledore was at the Ministry to sort it out and not to do anything. Next was an owl saying he wasn't expelled, but he had to go to a hearing about it. Sirius sent an owl saying don't leave the house."

"Real helpful Padfoot." Snorted James.

"Sirius gave sensible advice?" Lily asked, in surprise.

"Why is that a shock?" Sirius asked.

"Because it's you. You don't do sensible."

"I do when my godson's life could be at risk." He defended.

"Maybe it wasn't such a bad choice." Lily smiled up at James. James grinned and sent a secret wink to Sirius.

"Harry's uncle finally understood that Voldemort had come back and was looking for Harry. The dementor attack was the last straw, he ordered Harry to leave and not live in his house."

"He what?" It was Lily who yelled in anger this time. "His nephew is in danger and he wants to throw him out on the streets? Not even Petunia could sink so low."

"Petunia then received a howler saying 'Remember my last'. She said Harry could stay and sent him to bed."

"Thank goodness. Your sister can at least be called human." Remus said to Lily.

"Barely." Lily muttered.

"Who would sent her a howler?" Sirius asked, looking puzzled.

"Remember my last? Someone who had contact with her recently. It wasn't you Professor?" Remus concluded, looking at Dumbledore. "When you left Harry with them, that letter, it probably had something in it."

"I can't say for certain." Dumbledore said, although he was sure it was the case.

"Harry went upstairs. He sent letters to me, Ron and Sirius to try and get some answers. The Dursley's locked him in his bedroom and pushed food through the catflap."

"I take back what I said." Remus snarled. McGonagall and Flitwick looked appalled.

"How could anyone do that to a child?" McGonagall asked. Dumbledore looked grave, anger flashing in his eyes.

"A few days later, the Dursley's went out and a bunch of wizards came to take Harry to a safehouse. Remus was there, with Tonks, Nymphadora to you."

"My little cousin? Awesome." Sirius grinned. "What happens to her?"

"She becomes an auror." Hermione smiled."

"Good on her." Sirius beamed. "I always liked her. She will be at Hogwarts in a couple of years."

"Moody came too, along with quite a few others. The flew away from there and took Harry to Grimmauld Place."

"What? That can't be Order Headquarters." Sirius exclaimed. Hermione looked at him sadly. "Wait, if the headquarters is there the house is mine. That means Reg…" He trailed off looking morose. "Carry on without me, I need some air." He muttered, standing up and going out the front door. Hermione stared after him, then decided to leave him alone for a while. He had loved his brother despite what he said about his family

"Well, Harry arrived but an order meeting had just started so he was sent upstairs. He found me and Ron. We were so happy to see him. Harry started yelling though."

"I'm not surprised. He seems to have his mother's temper." James sighed. Lily glared.

"We tried to explain that Professor Dumbledore told us not to and that we had wanted to give him news. After a while the twins came in and between then and Ginny he finally calmed down. We told him that Percy, Ron's brother, had deserted the family. He was promoted to junior assistant to the Minister, and after the way he handled the Crouch affair the order were suspicious."

"They should be. Clearly they want Percy to spy on his family." Sirius scowled.

"He did. Percy and Mr Weasley had a massive row and Percy ended up leaving. He started living on his own in London."

"Poor Molly." Lily sighed.

"Harry finally calmed down completely after that."

"I do understand why Harry is upset though. He went through all of that and yet nobody tells him a thing, even though wizards were tailing him all the time. That would be enough to anger anyone." James said. Dumbledore was looking pensive and avoiding the glare McGonagall was giving him.

"Mrs Weasley called us all down to dinner where Tonks knocked over an umbrella stand and a portrait of Mrs Black started screaming. Remus and SIrius managed to close it, and Harry finally got to see Sirius again."

"Good. Now he has someone on his side." James smiled.

"Dinner was good, but afterwards Sirius said he was surprised Harry hadn't started asking questions as soon as he arrived. He said that he had tried asking us, but Sirius suggested that Harry be allowed to hear some of it from the order. Up till then we had been using an invention of Fred and George. Extendable ears."

"What?" James' head snapped up, looking eager."

"Basically ears on string so you can hear through doors and stuff far away."

"I love those twins so much." He grinned. Mcgonagall was sighing dramatically.

"Mrs Weasley said he was too young and shouldn't hear anything. Remus sided with Sirius, saying it would be better for us to hear it from them than bits and pieces that could be misunderstood."

"Nice Remus." James smiled. He was delighted his friends were taking as good a care of Harry as they could in his absence.

"In the end Harry stayed to get his questions answered. The twins, Ron and I all stayed too because the twins were of age and Harry said he would tell us as soon as he could anyway. We found out that Voldemort was lying low, as Remus correctly said earlier. Fudge was living in denial, using the Daily Prophet to smear Harry and Dumbledore so nobody believed them."

"Stupid, stupid man." James growled. Just then Sirius walked back in.

"Miss much?" He asked with a forced smile. Hermione could see the tear tracks down his face. She stood and gave him a hug as Remus caught him up to speed. Hermione and Sirius sat back down.

"Harry then wanted to join the order."

"He is fifteen. No way!" Lily cried.

"I'm proud of your guts son, but you are too young." James sighed, ruffling Harry's hair.

"He wasn't allowed, don't worry." Hermione assured them. "After that, we spent most of the summer cleaning the house."

"Damn. What did you do to deserve that? Commit murder?" Sirius asked in horror.

"It would have been less punishment if we had." Hermione scowled. Sirius snorted with bitter laughter. "The twins told us about their new sweets that they had developed."

"Those two are so awesome." Sirius grinned.

"What did I do to deserve them in my house?" McGonagall sighed. "I get all the troublemakers."

"My lot are too smart to cause such trouble." Flitwick grinned at her smugly.

"You saying we aren't smart, Professor?" Sirius asked, looking hurt.

"Yes, Mr Black." Flitwick chuckled.

"Just checking." Sirius said, with a grin of his own.

"If you need to check, you definitely don't belong in Ravenclaw." Lily snorted. Sirius pouted.

"We found some nasty stuff in the house and got rid of it. Sirius showed Harry the family tree and told him a bit about the family."

"Wow. You told him that?" James asked.

"I doubt I told him all of it." Sirius said darkly.

"All of it?" Hermione asked nervously. Sirius shook his head. "Soon, it was Harry's hearing. Mr Weasley took him to the Ministry, but they had changed the time and place of his hearing so he ended up being late."

"They are trying to make him look bad!" James hissed angrily.

"How dare they?" Lily exclaimed. "That's ridiculous."

"Fudge was being ridiculous most of the time." Hermione sighed. "They didn't believe him when Harry told them about the Dementor. Then Professor Dumbledore turned up. Fudge made a bit of an idiot of himself as he ended up proving in front of the whole Wizengamot that he cared more about slating Harry than the law."

"That…" Sirius growled, but Lily put a silencing charm on him.

"They tried him in front of the whole court?" She asked in a whisper. Hermione nodded. Dumbledore was shaking his head sadly.

"He used Mrs Figg as a witness, although she wasn't very convincing, and they managed to get Harry cleared of all charges."

"Thank you professor." Lily said gratefully, looking at Dumbledore. He smiled slightly and nodded.

"On the way out of the hearing they saw Lucius Malfoy with Fudge, giving him gold we think. Mr Weasley then dropped Harry off and we celebrated him being let off. We got our Hogwarts letters and found that Ron and I had been made prefects."

"Congrats 'Mione." Sirius grinned, performing the counter curse on himself. "Of course it was expected." He winked.

"Nice touch making Ron prefect. He has spent so long feeling inferior to Harry that it will be good for his confidence." Remus smiled over at Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling.

"The twins were disgusted with him. Mrs Weasley was thrilled that everyone had become a prefect."

"What about the twins?" Lily asked.

"That's what they said."

"Well, if Molly doesn't want them I will adopt them." James offered.

"No!" Lily cried.

"Definitely not. They do not need training by you two." McGonagall said firmly. "Besides, Molly loves all her children."

"Never mind. We can still offer to babysit, Prongs." Sirius grinned.

"Yes, babysit James." Remus chuckled. "I've tried for long enough, he still won't behave."

James and Sirius high fived. Remus and Lily threw them dirty looks which made them both snigger quietly.

"Mrs Weasley got him a new broom for being made prefect."

"You should have seen my mum's face when I got head boy." James grinned.

"Lily's was a picture too if I remember correctly." Sirius smirked. "Didn't she throw a tantrum and scream about how you must have confunded Dumbledore?"

"Oh yeah. After she was through trying to make me give it back to Remus." James snickered. Lily blushed. "But all of that was before she threatened to hex me into next week if I wasn't on my best behaviour in every prefect meeting."

"She did hex you because you were late once." Remus pointed out.

"Oh yeah." James grinned. McGonagall shook her head in despair and Lily scowled. Hermione was laughing along with Sirius and Remus.

"Anyway, we had a party. Mrs Weasley was trying to get rid of a boggart while everyone was celebrating, but it kept turning into her family dead, and Harry. Harry found her and then Remus came in and got rid of it."

"That's what we keep him around for." Sirius grinned.

"Soon after that it was time to go back to Hogwarts." Everyone cheered. Hermione sighed. They wouldn't be cheering soon. Sirius saw her face and stopped.

"You ok?" He asked in a low voice.

"Not really." She sighed. "But let's get this over with." He still looked concerned. She added in a louder voice. "Sirius accompanied us to the station as a dog. Ron and I had to go to the prefect's carriage, so Harry sat with Neville, Ginny and a girl called Luna Lovegood. Luna is Xenophilius' daughter."

"Say no more." Sirius grinned."

"Be nice." Lily chided.

"Ron and I didn't get back until way after lunch time. Malfoy had been made Slytherin prefect."

"Of course he had. His competition included Crabbe and Goyle." James pointed out with a snort of derision. Hermione chuckled.

"He came in and made a comment that made Harry and I think he knew Sirius had been on the platform. Obviously Wormtail had told Voldemort about his disguise."

"Stupid, traitorous, rat." Sirius snarled under his breath.

"Other than that it was pretty uneventful. So then we were at Hogwarts. Harry saw the Thestrals pulling the carriages for the first time."

Lily sniffled and James paled. They were all thinking back to Cedric and the graveyard.

"Let's all go to bed." Hermione suggested. Everyone nodded eagerly. They all knew tomorrow would be even worse. The professors all bade goodnight and left to go back to the school. Lily went to put Harry to bed. Sirius turned to Hermione.

"So what kind of sweets did the twins make?" He asked eagerly. James came over quickly and they both looked at her with expectant, eager expressions. She laughed.

"Ok. They were called skiving snackboxes."

"Sound perfect already." James grinned hugely.

"Nosebleed Nougat, Fever Fudge, things like that. One end made you ill so you got sent out of class, the other healed you so you were perfectly fine." She explained. Delight filled the faces of James and Sirius.

"Since Harry won't be able to give those two the triwizard winnings, I'm totally going to help them open the joke store." James said with a dreamy look on his face.

"Me too." Sirius added.

"We had better go, Sirius." Remus reminded him. He nodded.

"Be safe." He said quietly as he pulled her in for a hug. As he released her, he disappeared and Hermione sighed. Remus also wished them goodnight and disapparated himself. Tomorrow would be another problem. She said goodnight to Lily and James and crawled into bed, mentally exhausted. She had never quite appreciated how much Harry had gone through before. No wonder he snapped all the time and was withdrawn. She would make it better, she vowed to herself. It was her last thought before she fell asleep.

(A/N I'm so sorry about the horrendous update time. Please forgive me and REVIEW! They really make my day :) Love you all)


	18. Chapter 18

(A/N I know some people have commented that Hermione doesn't seem to be focused on saving people like the Prewitts and McKinnon's, but remember she doesn't know exactly when they died. As for the Longbottom's, what happened to them, occurred after Lily and James died so she has plenty of time to save them and she has mentioned what happened to them already.)

Chapter 18: Umbridge

Hermione awoke the next day to a bright, sunny morning. Sunshine was streaming in through a gap in the curtains. The house was quiet and she assumed nobody else was awake. Quietly, Hermione got up and dressed and then went downstairs. Lily was there alone, making some toast.

"Good morning." Lily smiled when she saw Hermione. "Would you like some toast?"

"Yes please. Morning Lily." Hermione replied.

"What's on the agenda for today?"

"Finish fifth year and start sixth. We should be finished tomorrow. That's when the serious work starts." Hermione looked at the floor. Today was the day she had to tell Sirius he died.

"Do you have any ideas how we can start this task?" James asked, entering the kitchen with a writhing Harry in his arms. She looked up, thankful for the distraction.

"Well, yes. Firstly we will need to have a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Have you guys had a photo taken as the Order yet?" Hermione asked.

"No. It has been proposed but the next meeting isn't until the day after tomorrow." James told her.

"Ok. Well at the party to celebrate us being prefects, Moody gave Harry a photo of the original Order of the Phoenix. He then went on to tell him all the people in the photo who died. So, I guess we should start by warning them."

"That is such a Moody thing to do." James laughed. "Celebration party, so start talking about all the people who have died."

"Good for us though." Lily sighed as she started feeding Harry. Hermione and James nodded. Just then there was a faint pop and Remus appeared beside them. He slumped into a seat.

"What's up Moony?" James asked instantly.

"A new string of attacks. Three Muggle villages were destroyed last night." Remus said in a pained voice.

"No. That's awful." Lily cried.

"That's Voldemort." James spat. As he spoke, Sirius came through the fireplace scowling.

"Have you heard?"

"The attacks? Yeah."

"No. Death Eaters cornered the Prewett twins, asking about your whereabouts. They escaped with only a couple of scratches, but I think they have finally missed the rat."

"Crap." Remus and James said at the same time.

"Yeah. Dumbledore is on his way here now." Sirius informed them. As he finished, Dumbledore stepped out of the fire, his face grave.

"I'm sure Mr Black has informed you of the attack. As Mr Pettigrew's last known mission was to spy on the Potter's, I can only assume they will be paying you a visit soon. Miss Lupin informed us that you had the Fidelius charm put upon this house in the future. I think we should move the time up and do it now. Perhaps a wiser choice in secret keeper." He said.

"Whatever you think is necessary Professor." Lily replied immediately.

"Would you like myself to be the secret keeper?" Dumbledore offered. James looked between him and Sirius. Sirius gestured towards Dumbledore.

"James you asked me to do it before, or you will do, whatever. I think it should be the Professor."

"It wasn't you that betrayed us Padfoot." James argued.

"I know Prongs. But it's safer if the Professor is your secret keeper. They will assume you choose me so I will be a target anyway." Sirius argued.

"Ok. Thank you Professor." James said as Hermione beamed at Sirius, giving him a hug. Just then Flitwick and McGonagall arrived. The charm was performed and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"I have now also set up anti-apparition jinxes around the house so everyone must use Floo Powder from now on." Dumbledore informed them. Everyone nodded. "Right. Miss Lupin, shall we continue your tale?" He asked. Hermione nodded and they all moved to the front room.

"Well, we had just arrived at Hogwarts. We noticed that Hagrid was missing from the staff table and a substitute teacher had taken the first years to the castle."

"He is ok, isn't he?" James asked anxiously.

"Yes. Harry thought he just hadn't come back from his mission over the summer. The main addition to the staff was Dolores Umbridge as DADA teacher. Fudge's undersecretary."

Remus hissed at the name.

"What is a member of the Ministry doing teaching at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked.

"Fudge clearly wants a spy." Lily replied angrily. "He is using the vacant teaching position to keep an eye on Professor Dumbledore."

"Outrageous." McGonagall cried, nostrils flaring.

"She interrupted Dumbledore's speech and started talking about how old practices needed to be perfected and pruning whatever practises should be prohibited. Basically she was telling us the Ministry was interfering at Hogwarts."

"Very good Miss Lupin." Dumbledore said, raised eyebrows.

"Most people missed that message because it was hidden in a load of waffle. Anyway, back in the dormitory we soon found that people were believing the Prophet. Seamus, a dorm mate of Harry's, was against him. His mum hadn't wanted him to go back to Hogwarts as she believed the slating of both Harry and Dumbledore. Ron and Neville stuck up for Harry, saying the both believed him."

"Good for Neville." James smiled.

"And Ron." Lily said.

"Yeah, but Ron's his best mate. He should believe him on principal. Neville, however, isn't a close friend or anything but is still sticking up for him."

"Anyway, I had found the same Lavender Brown didn't believe Harry either. Harry was already becoming really moody and we hadn't been at school a full day yet. Gryffindor now needed a new Keeper because Oliver Wood had left."

"Shame. He sounded awesome." Sirius sighed.

"He was very good. Played for Puddlemere United reserves I think."

"Brilliant!" James exclaimed. "That's my team."

"Our first day of lessons consisted of History of Magic, double Potions, Divination and double DADA with Umbridge."

"You poor things. That is the most miserable first day I have ever heard of." Sirius said, looking horrified.

"Fred and George offered to sell Ron nosebleed nougat cheap because they hadn't finished the cure yet." Hermione told them. Sirius and James sniggered. "They said the only reason they came back was so Mrs Weasley didn't throw a fit. What Ron and I didn't know was they already had gold to get premises and actually start the shop."

"Go Harry!" James grinned.

"Harry did try and have a conversation with Cho Chang during break, until Ron interrupted them by slating her Quidditch team."

"Just like Sirius." James sighed. "Every time I tried to have a date with Lily in seventh year he would be there ruining it."

"Not every one." Lily smiled.

"Only because I got Remus to keep him busy with chocolate."

"So that's where you got to." Sirius frowned.

"Snape resumed picking on Harry. He did forget an ingredient, but Snape vanished his whole potion so he couldn't give a sample even though it was much closer than at least half the Slytherin's. Divination was boring for them. I was in Ancient Runes."

"That's a good lesson." Remus said.

"Yeah, it's really interesting." Hermione agreed with a smile. "Last was DADA. Umbridge treated us like five year olds. Apparently the Ministry felt that theory would be enough to get us through the exam and so we were just going to be reading a book on Defensive basic principles. No magic."

"What?" McGonagall exclaimed. "Voldemort is back and she is not even letting you use magic? That's outrageous."

"The class thought so. She thought that we had been taught very badly so far and that annoyed everyone."

"Well last year you did have unforgivable curses put on you." Flitwick argued.

"But before that we had Remus. He taught us loads." Hermione reminded him. "Although Lockhart didn't do much good either." Remus beamed at her.

"So your teachers haven't been great. But I understand your point. At least they let you use magic." Flitwick sighed.

"It turned into a big argument until Harry lost his temper."

"Ahh, the famous Lily temper rears its ugly head." Sirius chuckled.

"My wife is not ugly." James protested.

"No, but the remains after a temper show are." Remus laughed. Lily blushed.

"Not a good time to lose your temper Mr Potter." McGonagall sighed.

"He told the whole class Voldemort returned and pretty much called Umbridge a liar to her face."

"He is right, but not the right way to go about it." James cursed.

"She sent him to Professor McGonagall with a note saying he was in detention for a week. The note said he shouted at her, called her a liar and told her Voldemort was back. Harry admitted he had and McGonagall offered him a biscuit."

"Hang on. What? He does that and gets a biscuit?" James yelped. McGonagall gave a small smile and Hermione laughed.

"McGonagall also tried to warn him and make him be more careful."

"Thank you Professor. Even if he doesn't actually listen." Lily said. McGonagall gave a chuckle.

"Dinner that night was even worse. The story had obviously travelled and they all seemed to want to provoke Harry into yelling again so they could hear his story. We went back to the Common Room to get away from them. I did threaten to write to Mrs Weasley is the twins didn't stop giving people their sweets to test."

"'Mione!" James and Sirius complained.

"Very good Miss Lupin." McGonagall said forcefully.

"I said they could still test them on themselves. But not others." Hermione clarified. The two boys looked slightly mollified.

"Never mind." McGonagall sighed. Dumbledore suppressed a smile.

"We all went to bed because I couldn't concentrate and they refused to do it without me."

"Remind you of anyone." Remus asked, looking pointedly and James and Sirius. Both of them grinned.

"By next afternoon we had stupid amounts of homework."

"You always do at OWL Level." Sirius said looking at her with pity.

"Care of Magical creatures was bad because they Slytherin's kept making taunts about Hagrid not being there. Harry was in trouble with the Gryffindor captain because he was going to be in detention when she had scheduled the keep tryouts."

"Wow. Second day back and he is in over his head in trouble." James sighed. "This is not what he needed that year."

"Poor kid." Sirius said, pulling baby Harry onto his lap.

"Harry did try and move his detention."

"Damn that kid is brave." Remus shuddered.

"Stupid I think." Sirius groaned. "She is working for Fudge. No way is she going to move his detention so he can go play Quidditch. Something he enjoys."

"He was going to be writing lines."

"That's not so bad." James shrugged. Hermione glanced at him.

"With a blood quil." She added quietly. There was a deadly silence.

"She used a blood quil on him?" Dumbledore asked sharply. "I would never allow it."

"That evil bitch." Sirius growled.

"How dare she!" Lily screeched. As she glared, a dummy appeared out of thin air and it exploded into pieces. James just looked pale and livid.

"He was in there hours. However Harry didn't tell us what had happened. He just said she made him do lines."

"Why? He should have told me straight away." McGonagall cried, looking worried. He had way too much homework and with another detention that night not much really got done. He stayed up until early hours of the morning trying to do it."

"Well really. He should have spoken to me by now." McGonagall was looking angry now.

"Or myself." Dumbledore added, he was looking furious as well.

"Well, Professor Dumbledore, you hadn't exactly been speaking to Harry so far. At the hearing you pretty much ignored him and you weren't exactly his favourite person then." James and Lily looked angrily over at Dumbledore.

"So he went through that himself last school year and now you won't even talk to him?" James asked loudly.

"I'm sure I have my reasons Mr Potter." Dumbledore replied calmly, although he looked both angry and worried himself.

"The Thursday night, on his way back from detention, Harry found Ron hiding in a broom closet. Apparently he was hiding from Fred and George. He confessed that he was going to tryout for Keeper. He then made Harry confess what really happened with Umbridge. Ron urged him to go to Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore."

"At least Mr Weasley has some sense." McGonagall sniffed.

"He refused on both accounts."

"Something needs to be done about that. We can't have students feeling they can't speak to their heads of House when something like this happens." Flitwick said, looking aghast.

"Something like this shouldn't be happening at all." Remus growled.

"I agree Mr Lupin, but some things we cannot prevent. However we should have the safety net of someone available to speak to whether it does or doesn't." McGonagall argued.

"I agree with the Professor." Hermione interrupted. "Anyway, he didn't tell anyone. On the last night, when she touched his hand, his scar hurt. When he came back, Ron had made the team."

"Awesome. That family have made some brilliant Quidditch players so far it seems." James grinned. "They might be as good as us soon."

"Shut up James." Lily frowned, smacking his arm.

"Just joking, love." James laughed, massaging his arm.

"He told me about his scar. He wanted to tell Sirius but the letters were already being intercepted so it was too dangerous."

"Damn. At least hiding in that cave I could be useful to him. Stuck down in that hellhole I can't even help." Sirius growled.

"He wrote to you anyway. He just put it in a way that if anyone outside our little group read it, they couldn't get too much information."

"Oh good. At least he still feels he can talk to me." Sirius smiled slightly.

"He even addressed it to Snuffles. Which was our nickname for Sirius."

"Aww, Snuffles." James cooed.

"Really? I let you call me Snuffles? What's wrong with Padfoot?"

"Every Death Eater would know your Marauder name." Remus pointed out with a scowl. Sirius frowned and cursed.

"Besides, I think Snuffles suits you." Remus added with a grin. Now Sirius scowled.

"In the Owley he met Cho Chang. They actually managed to have a proper conversation until Flich came running in accusing Harry of ordering dungbombs and wanting to see his letter. Thankfully Harry had already sent it so he couldn't read it and Cho defended him."

"Awww. Young love." James grinned.

"The Prophet reported that there had been a tipoff that Sirius was hiding in London."

"Malfoy recognised Sirius. He reported it." Remus said looking worried.

"They won't find me. That stupid house has more than enough protection on it." Sirius sighed.

"We also saw that Sturgis Podmore was arrested trying to get through a top security door."

"Sturgis? What on earth would he be doing?" Dumbledore asked.

"We think he was under the Imperius curse." Hermione told them. "THe boys went off to Quidditch practise. Ron wasn't very good. The Slytherin's also showed up which didn't help his confidence. He was in a foul mood when they came back. I finally got them to do some homework."

"You have more influence over them that I had on those two." Remus grinned.

"Ron's brother Percy wrote to him trying to warn him against being friends with Harry. He told him to get on Umbridge's good side and help her do her work at Hogwarts."

"That slimy git." James growled.

"Ron tore up the letter."

"Good for him." Sirius snarled.

"Later that evening, Sirius' head came into the fire. He told us Fudge thought Dumbledore was making us into some kind of army to use against the Ministry, which is why we aren't allowed to use magic in DADA lessons."

"The man has actually gone insane." Sirius said, something like awe in his voice.

"We may have annoyed Sirius because we said we didn't want him coming up to visit next Hogsmeade weekend." Hermione looked over at him apologetically. "We just didn't want you getting caught, especially as your dog disguise was useless." She told him, taking his hand as his face darkened.

"I understand." He replied, his voice flat.

"It's not that we didn't want you to. It was just much safer and Harry didn't want you thrown back in Azkaban." Sirius' face softened slightly.

"I mean it. I understand. I don't have to like it, but I know you're just looking out for me." He smiled.

"Next day the Prophet announced that Umbridge was being made High Inquisitor. She had the power to inspect and sack other teachers. It also told us that there was another education decree over the summer stating that if the headmaster couldn't find a teacher the Ministry could appoint someone, which was how we got stuck with her."

Dumbledore's eyes were flashing dangerously.

"That day Divination was inspected. Professor Trelawney didn't do very well apparently. I thought she was a fraud anyway, but Harry had seen her give a real prophecy. In DADA I told her that I had read the whole book already. She tried to say our only good teacher had been Quirrell and so Harry couldn't keep his mouth shut. He yelled about how Quirrell had had Voldemort sticking out the back of his head and so got given detention again."

"NO!" Yelled James. "He can't go through that again." Hermione glanced over at McGonagall and thought it best not to mention how she had taken points from Harry as well.

"Transfiguration was also inspected."

James and Sirius' faces cracked into identical, evil grins. "That must have been great fun to watch." James cackled. McGonagall raised an eyebrow at him. Hermione was fighting a smile.

"Well, Umbridge kept interrupting the lesson and McGonagall asked how how she expected to get a good idea of how she taught if Umbridge kept interfering as the Professor didn't usually allow interruptions."

Everyone burst out laughing except McGonagall, but even her lips were twitching.

"In Care of Magical Creatures, Malfoy was telling Umbridge about all the injuries the class had sustained. Forgetting to mention that Hagrid had told us how to handle a Hippogriff and he hadn't listened."

There were various mutterings and threats going around the room at this,

"When Harry got back from detention I had some Murtlap essence ready for him."

"Thanks 'Mione." James smiled gratefully.

"That night I suggested that we do something about Umbridge. Ron did try and suggest poison,"

"I like this kid." Sirius grinned.

"I meant getting someone to teach us proper DADA, I suggested that Harry teach us."

"That's a great idea." Remus smiled.

"He wasn't too fond of the idea. He tried to make out everything he had done was down to help or luck not his skill. We did try to tell him otherwise. He agreed to think about it."

"It was definitely down to skill. Not many fully grown wizards could do what he has done, let alone at that age." James frowned, looking down at his son who was still on Sirius' lap. "You are brilliant Harry." He said firmly.

"He did agree to teach us and I suggested we offer the chance out to other students. We met them all in the Hog's head."

"Three Broomsticks would have been better." James groaned.

"I know that know." Hermione sighed. "Quite a few people turned up and we all signed it. I gave out coins with a protean charm on so we could all contact each other. Some of them had just come to hear Harry's story. He refused to talk about it, but they all stayed and agreed to come. We just needed a place to do it."

"What about…?" Sirius started and then looked at the Professor's and stopped.

"Yes Mr Black?" McGonagall asked.

"Never mind." He muttered.

"The next day there was a new decree saying that all teams, groups and things like that were disbanded. They must all seek her permission to reform. That included Quidditch."

"What?" Everyone asked, looking incredulous.

"How could she have found out?" Remus asked.

"Disbanded Quidditch teams?" James cried.

"That evil hag." Lily scowled.

"Everyone still wanted to be taught by Harry. Harry received a letter in History of Magic but Hedwig's feathers were ruffled. Someone had attacked her for the letter."

"Umbridge." James spat. Everyone looked furious.

"The letter was from Sirius. It just said 'same place, same time'. Harry took Hedwig to Hagrid's substitute, Professor Grubbly-Plank. Snape's lesson was then inspected. Harry did the potion wrong and got no marks again. In Divination, they found out Professor Trelawney had been put on probation. There was no Quidditch practise as the team hadn't been given permission to reform."

"That evil hag." Sirius growled.

"Sirius came to the fire again that night. He encouraged us to go ahead with our idea. He did give us some ideas on where we could do it, but most of them weren't practical. Then he almost got caught as Umbridge's hand came into the fire. Thankfully Sirius wasn't caught but it made seeing him in the fire very dangerous."

"Great. Just great. She is slowly cutting off everyone Harry could ever talk to about his problems." Sirius groaned. Everyone was looking angry and worried. Nobody should have to go through that alone.

"At least he still has Ron and 'Mione." Remus pointed out. "He still has someone."

"True." James agreed.

"Angeline told Harry next day that Quidditch was back on. She had appealed to Professor McGonagall who had possibly gone to Professor Dumbledore."

"I'm glad someone can still talk to me even if it's Quidditch and not what young Mr POtter is going through." McGonagall sighed.

"I think most of it was just that Harry wasn't sure how much power you had to do anything. He didn't want to tell you and have you fuss over him when there was nothing you could do."

"I would go to Albus. He would not allow things like blood quills."

"Well, he didn't want to talk to Professor Dumbledore about it." Hermione sighed. James and Lily glared at Dumbledore. "Quidditch practise was horrible because it was pretty much in a storm. Afterwards, Harry's scar hurt again. He was beginning to be able to read Voldemort's moods. That night he was angry. In Umbridge's office he had been happy."

Everyone exchanged worried and curious looks.

"I suppose it makes sense that the connection is getting stronger now he is back." Remus said.

"That night Dobby woke Harry up to return Hedwig to him. He also told him about the Room of Requirement. It could change into whatever type of room the seeker needed."

"Brilliant." James grinned.

"Sounds wicked." Sirius agreed.

"We had our first meeting next day and tried out the room. It was perfect. First lesson went really well. Harry got everyone practising disarming. He turned out to be a really good teacher. However much he tries to deny it, he is gifted at Defense."

"That's my boy." James grinned.

"Just like old Moony." Sirius laughed.

"We decided to call the group Dumbledore's Army." Hermione told them with a slight smile. Dumbledore looked at her with a mixture of fondness and gratitude.

"Great name. That's exactly what the Ministry fear is happening." Remus voiced his approval.

"A few weeks later was the first match of the season. The Slytherin's had a new chant about how bad Ron was. He had such confidence problems as soon as he let in one that was in for the game. Harry caught the snitch so Gryffindor still won."

Sirius and James began a victory dance around the room, cheering. Baby Harry was clapping and gurgling with laughter and Hermione was sad she had to ruin the mood. Sirius caught sight of her face.

"Damn. What's the bad news?" He asked with a sigh. At that, James stopped dancing as well.

"Well, after Harry had the snitch, one of the Slytherin beaters hit him in the back with a bludger."

"Disgusting cheats." James cried angrily, all cheerfulness forgotten.

"How dare he." McGonagall scowled.

"Then the team all came over and Malfoy landed nearby. He started insulting the Weasley's. Harry had to hold back George while everyone else held back Fred. Madam Hooch was still busy telling of Crabbe for the bludger attack so couldn't stop the fight."

"Great. Malfoy probably put him up to it." Remus scowled. "So he could get a bit of taunting in unobserved."

"They were ok until he started insulting Lily and Harry let George go, both of them attacking Malfoy."

"I don't blame him." James spat. "I would have."

"That' probably why it's a bad idea Prongs. You would have done it." Sirius grinned, trying to lighten the mood. James and Remus gave a small chuckle.

"Just then Madam Hooch finally came over and sent Harry and George to Professor McGonagall."

"Of course. Crabbe kept her busy long enough for Malfoy to provoke an attack." Sirius growled. McGonagall was looking angry and resigned.

"Professor McGonagall gave them detention but then Umbridge came in. A new decree had been passed saying she could overrule teacher's punishments as she was bitter because Professor McGonagall had overridden her about the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She banned Harry, Fred and George from playing Quidditch for the year."

"She. Did. What?" James asked in a deadly voice.

"She can override teacher punishments? That's ridiculous." Flitwick squeaked in outrage.

"She confiscated their brooms as well."

"But Fred didn't even do anything. The others stopped him." Protested Lily. "That's outrageous."

"That's Umbridge." Hermione said.

"What is the Ministry coming to?" James asked in an incredulous voice.

"A shambles." McGonagall answered.

"Well, after the match we were in the common room and out the window, I saw Hagrid return so we went down to see him."

"About time he was back."

"That's what we thought. Anyway, when we got there Hagrid looked like he had been attacked. HE wouldn't tell us what happened though. Finally we made a deal that if he told us his story we would tell him about Harry being attacked by Dementors."

"You really know how to get Hagrid to talk 'Mione." Sirius grinned at her. "You're very manipulative, I like it." Hermione smiled.

"Well he told us he had been off with Madame Maxime, to talk to the giants. They found them ok and made good headway with the chief of the giants. Unfortunately a few days later the chief was killed and a new one was established. Not quite so friendly to Professor Dumbledore. He approved of the Death Eaters instead. Hagrid spent a few days trying to rally any friendly giants but the caves where they were hiding got raided. Any that survived didn't want anything to do with them."

"Damn. That's unfortunate." Sirius sighed, handing Harry over to Remus.

"Just as he finished his story, Umbridge knocked. We hid under the Invisibility cloak and she started interrogating him. His answers weren't exactly convincing. After she had gone we spent the whole time trying to convince him not to show us dangerous creatures in lessons. She would be looking for any excuse to throw him out."

"Yeah, she will." Remus said bitterly.

"How about we take a break." Hermione suggested. Everyone nodded and broke into smaller groups to chat.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Order of the Phoenix part 3

After a few minutes break, Hermione called everyone back to attention. She was conscious of wasting time. Besides, the quicker they got this year out of they way, the better. She glanced over at Remus. The poor man was about to become the last of his friends, for real this time. He only just got his best friend back, only to lose him again. Remus gave her a small smile, which she returned and then she spoke.

"Right, shall we continue?" Everyone nodded. "Ok. So, the next day I went back to Hagrid's to convince him to show us some less dangerous creatures this year. We knew that Umbridge would be looking for any excuse to sack him, being only part human and close to Professor Dumbledore. However he didn't take any of my advice, saying he didn't want his lessons to be boring."

"Oh Hagrid, that is the least of your worries." Lily sighed.

"Hagrid didn't quite understand exactly how bad Umbridge was, or how much power she had." Hermione sighed.

"Did the rest of the staff not explain to him?" McGonagall asked.

"I'm not sure. You may have had a word of warning, but either he still didn't understand, or he just thought there was nothing wrong with what he was doing anyway."

"Probably the latter." James grinned.

"Naturally his first lesson with us was inspected. He was showing us Thestrals."

"Ooh. That's not a bad lesson." Lily smiled.

"Maybe a bit advanced for fifth year though. We didn't study them until NEWTS." Remus said, looking apprehensive.

"Umbridge was horrible. She pretended not to be able to understand him, which totally confused poor Hagrid. She was making horrible notes, but muttering loud enough so Hagrid could hear which threw him off the lesson slightly. Then she asked loads of questions to the Slytherins who made out they couldn't understand him and made out that students were too intimidated to admit Hagrid frightened them."

"That twisted, evil, scumbag." Remus growled.

"This is outrageous." Flitwick squeaked, frowning.

"Unless you make him really mad nobody is afraid of Hagrid." Sirius said, shaking his head.

"After that it was our last DA meeting of the term. It went really well, Harry was a wonderful teacher and everyone was making amazing progress. Afterwards, he stayed behind to talk to Cho Chang. Apparently she was crying and wanted to talk about Cedric. In the end they kissed and then Harry met us in the common room."

"It took my son five years into Hogwarts to even get his first kiss?" James asked in horror. Hermione smiled indulgently but nodded.

"Good lord." Sirius cried.

"Who stays behind wanting to kiss someone you like and then starts crying about their ex-boyfriend?" James queried. "I mean, I totally get that it's upsetting, but why would you mention it when you're about to kiss another bloke?" Hermione and Lily shared a look.

"I explained that one to Harry as well. Anyway, that night he had a vision. He was Nagini, Voldemort's snake, and he was heading towards the Department of Mysteries. There was a man on guard duty and he started to see the snake, so it bit him. Harry woke up and knew it had been a real vision, not just a dream. A giant snake had attacked Mr Weasley while he was on guard duty for the Order."

"No!" Everyone cried, looking worried

"Arthur can't die." Lily looked horrified.

"Well, as soon as Harry woke up, he tried to tell Ron what had happened, but they all thought he was going crazy. Neville ran to fetch Professor McGonagall. She took him to Professor Dumbledore."

"Oh thank goodness." McGonagall heaved a sigh of relief.

"Harry explained what he had seen and Professor Dumbledore sent some of the portraits to get help for Mr Weasley."

"They were in time right?" James asked anxiously.

"Yes. They got to him just in time and moved him to St Mungo's."

"Oh thank God." Remus sighed.

"Harry saved his life." James breathed.

"Yes." Hermione smiled. "Then Harry, Ron, Ginny and the twins took a portkey to Sirius' house. They wanted to go running off to the hospital then and there but Sirius stopped them. They had to wait at least for Dumbledore to inform Mrs Weasley. She soon sent a letter saying he was still alive and she was on her way to the hospital."

"Well done Harry." Lily smiled.

"At least he is alive. That will be a nasty bite though." Remus said.

"Well done for stopping them Sirius." McGonagall told him with a small smile. Sirius beamed proudly.

"Hey, Prongs, did you see that? Minnie smiled at me." He whispered to James.

"You must have imagined it." James whispered back.

"Naa, I knew she always liked me." Sirius grinned wickedly. "She even called me Sirius."

"Enough Mr Black." McGonagall said sharply. Sirius' face fell slightly.

"Oh well. We had a good run Minnie." He chuckled. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with amusement and James was laughing loudly. Even Lily looked like she was fighting a smile.

"Mrs Weasley soon came to Grimmauld Place and they had breakfast. Mr Weasley was sleeping and alive. It was decided that they would all stay with Sirius for Christmas as it was closer to the hospital."

"Yay! Company." Sirius beamed. It was depressing thinking of himself cooped up in that damned house alone, all Christmas.

"And what am I? Dead meat?" Remus asked indignantly.

"I mean...Yay, more company." Sirius corrected and Remus grinned.

"Harry then told Sirius about him seeing the vision from the Snake's point of view. Sirius tried to reassure him, but Harry was now terrified that it was him that did the attacking. Nobody explained that his connection to Voldemort allowed him to see, not that he had to have physically been present. So now he was terrified to fall asleep in case it happened again."

"The poor boy. Albus why did you not explain anything to him?" McGonagall asked. Hermione scowled slightly. Dumbledore was looking grave, he could guess what his future self was doing.

"Everyone went to visit Mr Weasley later that day, after they had slept for a little bit. After the children had said hello, they waited outside while the Order spoke to him. The twins used extendable ears to hear what was going on."

"Brilliant." Beamed the marauders. McGonagall looked disapproving.

"They said that the snake had vanished and there was no sign of it. Moody also suggested that Harry could be being possessed, which of course freaked him out even more."

"Oh great. Because Harry really needs more things to worry about." James sighed.

"Shouldn't have been eavesdropping then." Lily replied. "Not that, with your genes, he would ever do anything else." She added, looking over at James.

"Harry then started isolating himself from everyone."

"No. Thats exactly what he needs to not do." Sirius groaned.

"He wanted to run away to try and protect everybody else, in case Voldemort was using him as a spy on the Order by possessing him."

"Someone really need to sit down and explain things to the poor boy." Flitwick said.

"It would have saved an awful lot of worry and problems." Hermione agreed heavily. "It would also have made a difference to Harry because he wouldn't feel so isolated."

"Professor, why aren't you explaining things to Harry, he is clearly able to handle it?" Lily asked Dumbledore. He refused to meet her gaze.

"I'm not sure Lily. I have only theories." He replied.

"Then the portrait of Phineas Nigellus said that Dumbledore told him to stay put. He was confused, terrified, and now angry that he was not being told anything at all. However he did decide that since Professor Dumbledore told him to stay, they he was allowed to sleep. Then he didn't go down to dinner. Next day they started decorating for Christmas and were subjected to listening to Sirius singing."

"Oh no. You poor things." James cried, throwing his arms around Hermione."

"I wasn't there yet. I was in France."

"Count yourself lucky." Remus grinned.

"Hey!" Sirius protested. "I am not that bad."

"Yes you are." James, Remus and Lily chorused together. Sirius pouted and turned to Hermione with puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry Sirius, but I can't lie to you." She grinned. "I've never heard you sing, but by all accounts I don't want to." She chuckled.

"You lot are so mean to me." SIrius grumbled.

"You wouldn't have us any other way Pads." James grinned, ruffling Sirius' hair. Sirius growled and threw him off, desperately trying to fix his hair.

"That evening, I arrived and finally got Harry down to talk to everybody. After talking to Ginny, we determined he was not being possessed. I assured him that he couldn't have been transported out of Hogwarts to the vision, and so we finally convinced him that it had just been a vision. Nothing more."

"Oh good. Now he doesn't have quite so much to worry about." Lily sighed in relief.

"Thanks 'Mione." James smiled over at her.

"He became a lot happier and joined in decorating the house for Christmas. The only problem was that he now joined in singing with Sirius 'God rest ye, Merry Hippogriffs.'"

"Ahhh, my favourite." Sirius beamed.

"If he is anything like James, then having both him and Padfoot singing together is something I never want to hear." Remus muttered. Both James and Sirius looked at him, offended.

"Oh you suffered right along with us Remus." Hermione grinned. "Christmas was great. After presents, we all went to visit Mr Weasley. Mrs Weasley started yelling at him for trying to use muggle stitches on the wound."

"That is a reasonable idea." Lily pointed out.

"I agree, but the venom in the snake kept dissolving them." Hermione said.

"What on earth are stitches?" Sirius asked. Lily shook her head at him.

"You took Muggle studies."

"Only to annoy mum. I didn't pay attention."

"We all went to get a cup of tea while she yelled at him and we ran into Professor Lockhart." Hermione continued.

"That idiot?" James said, exasperated. "Really did a good job on himself then didn't he?" He smirked.

"Serves him right for trying to remove Harry's memory and leave Ginny to die." Sirius snorted.

"We also ran into Neville. He was visiting Frank and Alice." Everybody paled and looked down.

"A fate worse than death." James murmured,

"Indeed Mr Potter." Dumbledore sighed.

"Just before we went back to Hogwarts, Snape arrived, to tell Harry he would be teaching him Occlumency."

"HE WHAT?" Roared James. "Why would you let that slimy git teach Harry something so important?" He asked.

"James. He is not a slimy git. And he is very skilled at Legilimency. It does make sense." Lily pointed out.

"Snape teaching Harry in extra lessons definitely does not make sense. They hate each other with a passion." Remus pointed out.

"I guess Albus won't teach him." McGonagall sighed. Dumbledore was staring at his feet.

"Well Sirius and Snape were arguing after he told Harry that it would be Snape himself teaching him. The Weasley's all came in and stopped them actually duelling."

"Damn." Sirius sighed.

"When we got back to Hogwarts, Harry finally managed to ask Cho out to Hogsmeade on Valentine's day."

"About time son." James rolled his eyes.

"In his first Occlumency lesson, Snape explained that the vision before Christmas had made Voldemort aware of the connection between himself and Harry. Meaning he could send Harry false visions." Hermione flinched slightly as she said that. "Which was why he had to take these lessons. Snape just kept breaking into Harry's mind without really teaching him how to defend himself."

Everyone exchanged worried glances. James looked murderous. Lily looked disappointed.

"Then he told him he had to let go of his emotions while he was taunting him. The lesson really didn't go very well. However, during one attempt he saw the door at the Department of Mysteries and worked out that was the door Voldemort was thinking about. He told me and Ron about it. We went to the common room and found Fred and George demonstrating their new product. Headless hats."

"Wicked." James and Sirius grinned.

"They are incredibly clever, those two." Remus grinned.

"That night Harry felt weaker rather than stronger and felt Voldemort's joy. Something good had happened. Next morning we found out that 10 high security Death Eaters had broken out from Azkaban, including Bellatrix Lestrange. They tried to pin it on Sirius as well."

"Like I would ever help that scum escape." Sirius scoffed.

"We also found out Hagrid had been put on probation. Umbridge seemed to be making it even more important to bring every aspect of Hogwarts under her control. The news that the Death Eaters had escaped drove everyone in the DA to perform even better. However, since starting Occlumency, HArry's sensitivity to Voldemort's moods became stronger than ever. He had dreams about the Department of Mysteries more often as well."

"Damn Snivellus." Sirius growled.

"Albus, you really shouldn't let Severus teach Harry." McGonagall sighed. "The history is too much."

"Then came Harry's date with Cho. I asked Harry to meet me in the Three Broomsticks around midday. They talked about Quidditch on the way there."

"A Quidditch fan? She's a keeper Harry."

"Actually she's a seeker." Hermione smirked. Sirius and James gaped at her.

"Did you just make a Quidditch joke?" James asked.

"She did. I knew you were perfect." Sirius grinned, pulling Hermione into a rib cracking hug.

"Can't. Breathe." She choked.

"Oops. Sorry." Sirius chuckled and looked sheepish. Hermione laughed, a bit pink in the face.

"Well, Cho dragged him to Madam Puddifoot's."

"Yuck!" Sirius exclaimed. "That place is evil."

"He mentioned he was meeting me, but she didn't take that very well. Then she started wanting to talk about Cedric and so their date didn't go very well."

"Well stop bringing up her ex-boyfriend then and she might have a good time." James rolled his eyes.

"He found me with Rita Skeeter."

"Why on Earth would you be with that woman?" Lily asked in disgust.

"Well, as a favour to me, she agreed to do an interview with Harry about what really happened in the graveyard with Voldemort. Luna had agreed to get it published in the Quibbler."

"Harry agreed to talk about that with the public?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. Hermione blushed.

"I didn't exactly ask him. I kind of told him when he showed up. He agreed to do it. So we did the interview and Luna said it would be published quite soon."

"That's great. But the Quibbler?" Remus asked with a bemused smile.

"Well we couldn't exactly put it in the Prophet." Hermione sighed. "A few days later Harry got loads of mail. The interview had come out. Some thought he was crazy and other people were convinced by his argument. Umbridge saw and gave him detention, stopped him going to Hogsmeade and took points for doing the interview."

"She what?" McGonagall's nostrils flared. Everyone else looked outraged.

"She can't do that." Lily cried.

"She could do whatever she liked." Hermione sighed. "However, she then banned the Quibbler."

James, Sirius and Remus chuckled to themselves. "That's the best way to spread it around." Remus laughed. Hermione nodded with a grin.

"Soon everyone had read it. Seamus now came up saying he believed Harry. Cho was back on good terms with him. And then Harry had another dream. Bode had been bewitched to remove something from the Department of Mysteries and failed. Now Rookwood was going to help him correct the mistake."

"Augustus Rookwood?" Dumbledore asked sharply. Hermione nodded.

"During an Occlumency lesson, Snape saw his dream and was angry that Harry wasn't working hard enough. Then they heard a scream upstairs and found that Professor Trelawney had finally been sacked. Umbridge had made a public spectacle of it. However, Professor Dumbledore said that she didn't have to leave Hogwarts even if she wasn't teaching."

Dumbledore looked relieved.

"Why is that so important?" James asked. Both Dumbledore and Hermione shook their heads. James scowled.

"Professor Dumbledore had also enlisted Firenze the Centaur as the replacement teacher."

"Ha! Bet she loved that. Another part human." Remus grinned delightedly.

"She was, angry, to say the least." Hermione grinned back. "Apparently Divinations lessons were rather different."

"Being taught by a centaur. That is so cool." James whispered in awe.

"In one DA lesson we were producing Patronus' until Dobby arrived warning us that Umbridge had found out and was on her way. Thanks to his warning everyone except Harry had managed to get away."

"No! Now she is going to take that away from him too." James groaned.

"Take it away from him? She will probably expel him." Lily shrieked.

"She dragged him to Professor Dumbledore's office, where Fudge and Professor McGonagall were waiting. Apparently Cho friend had told her what was going on. My charm on the parchment everyone signed meant that she now had the word sneak written across her nose and cheeks in spots."

James and Sirius sniggered.

"Awesome magic 'Mione." Sirius congratulated her.

"She refused to say anything more in case it made the spots worse. As they were talking Kingsley managed to put a spell on Marietta so that it sounded like this was the first DA meeting since it was set up. Then they showed Professor Dumbledore the parchment with the name Dumbledore's Army on. It allowed Professor Dumbledore to take the blame for setting it up not Harry and so Harry was off the hook. However it meant the Professor had to leave the school."

"Thank you Professor." Lily said fervently. Dumbledore looked lost in thought, but smiled at her.

"My pleasure."

"Umbridge was instated at headmistress. Fred and George now decided it was time to wreak absolute havoc. They didn't care about staying in Hogwarts and so they made things somewhat interesting." Hermione grinned.

The marauders all leaned forward, eager to hear what happened.

"I can't wait to hear what they do." James grinned.

"They are so brilliant. We have little marauders in training." Sirius rubbed his hands together.

"Umbridge tried to get Harry to tell her where Professor Dumbledore had gone and where Sirius was hiding. She put veritaserum in the tea she offered him, but he knew better than to drink it."

"At least he has some sense." McGonagall sighed in relief.

"He was reminded of Moody." Hermione smiled.

"Good." Sirius said. "At least he taught him something."

"A loud noise disturbed them and they ran upstairs to find out what was going on. The twins had set off some of their homemade fireworks. When she tried to stun them they exploded violently. Apparently they multiply if you try and vanish them."

"Wicked!" James cried.

"They really are good." Sirius laughed.

"Impressive magic." Remus said, looking impressed.

"All the teachers could easily have got rid of them, but they decided that, every time a firework got into the classroom, they would send for Umbridge to get rid of it instead."

McGonagall gave a vindictive smile at that and Flitwick gave a chuckle.

"Go Minnie!" Cheered James and Sirius.

"As he was about to start his next Occlumency lesson, Malfoy came in saying Umbridge needed Snape. He left and as Harry was about to do the same, he saw a pensive. Being nosy, he decided to go and look."

"He saw Snape's memories?" Lily asked, looking horrorstruck.

"What did he see?" Sirius asked eagerly.

"Your DADA exam in fifth year." Hermione told him with a frown.

"Crap. Not one I would have chosen for him to see." James groaned. "Did he see the whole thing?"

"Where Snape called Lily a mudblood? Yes. He saw everything up to you about to take Snape's pants off."

"Damn. I really wish he hadn't. I didn't exactly cover myself in glory." James sighed.

"No. Harry was rather upset. Mainly because he saw that you were exactly as arrogant as Snape had always told him. And the fact that he saw Lily hated your guts. He couldn't understand how she agreed to go out with you."

"None of us understand that one, and we lived through it." Remus snorted.

"Oi." James said indignantly.

"How did Severus react when he found Harry there?" McGonagall asked nervously.

"He refused to teach Harry anymore."

"No!" Cried Lily. "He needs to learn."

"He can't just stop teaching him." James growled.

"Well by all accounts Snivellus was making it worse. Maybe it's a good thing." Sirius reasoned. Hermione frowned at him.

"It's definitely not a good thing." She sighed. "Harry should have learnt Occlumency." Everyone looked at her, alarmed by her tone of voice.

(A/N I'm so so sorry for the horrendously long update time. I will try to update at least once a week from now on. Please review, it gives me incentive. Hope you liked it. Up next...Sirius's death. *Sobs in the corner*)


	20. Chapter 20

(A/N as I made you wait so long for the last chapter, I guess the least I could do was a quick update. You can all thank **Queen Conquer **who threatened to shoot me lol. I hope you all like it and don't cry too much. let me know what you think, I love all my reviews and want to thank all those who have reviewed so far. It inspires me to write faster :) hint hint)

Chapter 20: Sirius's Death

Lily looked like she was about to get up and get some food but Hermione shook her head. She just wanted to get this year over with. If she delayed much longer it was going to be that much harder to say. She hadn't exactly been close to Sirius before and it had been upsetting. Now, when she could see him in all his younger glory days, thinking of losing him again was horrifying.

"Harry told us that Snape reckoned he could carry on himself and failed to mention what he had seen. With all of this going on we only had a few weeks until exams so I was trying to make the boys study."

"Yes. Please make Harry study." Lily begged.

"Well, Harry wanted to talk to Sirius about what he had seen and so Fred and George planned a distraction so that he could use Umbridge's fireplace."

"Great plan." James grinned.

"Knew we loved those twins for a reason." Sirius beamed.

"But before then we had careers advice."

"Oh yeah. I remember that. Boring." James said.

"Maybe for you." Remus muttered.

"Umbridge was at Harry's." McGonagall scowled. "He decided that he wanted to become an Auror. Umbridge tried to say that his DADA grades weren't high enough."

"But he is awesome at that." Remus protested.

"Yes. Professor McGonagall basically said he got good grades under any competent teacher." Hermione said, biting back her laughter. Nobody else was as restrained. McGonagall's lips twitched into a smug smile and the three marauders were rolling around laughing. Hermione gave them a minute to let out the tension that had been around for a while.

"Brilliant Minnie." Sirius choked out between his chuckles.

"That's dangerous Minerva. Calling Dolores incompetent to her face." Dumbledore warned, although he was still smiling himself.

"Umbridge then said that as long as Fudge was Minister Harry had no chance of becoming an Auror so Professor McGonagall said she would coach him personally to make sure he got the grades to become one." Hermione smiled.

"Thank you Professor." Lily said fervently.

"Wow. Go Harry, you even got Minnie to like you." Sirius ruffled Harry's hair.

"May have something to do with not causing trouble every five minutes or calling her Minnie." Lily told him with raised eyebrows.

"Five minutes? Give us credit Lils. Every minute." James grinned.

"After this, Harry was still planning to go to Umbridge's office even though I tried to persuade him otherwise. Thankfully he took the cloak and got in ok. Fred and George set off a portable swamp in a corridor."

"Wicked!" James, Sirius and Remus cried.

"Those two are pure genius." Remus laughed.

"Love them." Sirius grinned.

"Both Remus and Sirius were then when Harry made his appearance. They reassured him that James was a nice guy just a bit of an idiot."

"Gee, thanks guys." James grumbled.

"Anytime." Remus chuckled.

"They were both outraged when he said Snape stopped giving him lessons. They told him to go back and ask to resume them, which of course, he didn't."

"He should, but I don't blame him. Snape wasn't exactly being overly helpful was he?" James sighed. Lily looked down. The more her old friend was in the story, the worse he seemed.

"Harry made it back out in time to see Umbridge try and put the twins in detention. However, they decided now was the time to leave. The summoned their brooms, and flew out of the school. Not before ordering Peeves to give Umbridge hell and telling everyone where their premises were."

"They are brilliant."

"But, their exams?" Lily looked horrified.

"They don't need them to run their own joke shop." Hermione informed her.

"They might just rival us. We have to help them start up." Sirius turned to James. "Once we teach Harry, he can help the twins and we can have marauders 2.0 in the school."

"No!" Lily and the teachers cried together.

"Once was more than enough." McGonagall said firmly.

"Well, once the twins were gone, we found out exactly how much stuff they had sold already. In almost every DADA class, people would suddenly develop nosebleeds, or vomit or high fevers so they all had to go to the hospital wing."

Everyone laughed.

"She couldn't get rid of the swamp and none of the other teachers were exactly offering to help." Hermione grinned with a sly glance at McGonagall, who was smiling slightly.

"Peeves was magnificent. He took the twin's words to heart and really did give her hell."

"He is a great ally to have on your side." Sirius beamed, looking glassy eyed in memory.

"At the next Quidditch match, Hagrid called Harry and I away."

"He what? Why would he take you away from Quidditch. That should go down as child cruelty." James cried.

"He decided to tell us how he kept getting all his injuries. Apparently he had managed to bring one giant back and he had hidden it in the forest."

"Oh good lord." McGonagall moaned. "A giant. In the forest. Whatever next?"

"It was his half brother. He thought he would be getting sacked soon so he wanted to introduce us to him so that if he left, we could teach it him English."

"Hagrid seriously wanted you to teach a giant English?" Sirius asked, looking both shocked and awed.

"Yes. We honestly couldn't believe him." Hermione said, shaking her head. "We got back just in time to see that Gryffindor had won the Quidditch cup again."

"YES!" James and Sirius cried. "Go go Gryffindor. Go go Gryffindor." They chanted, dancing and spinning around the room while Harry clapped and gurgled with laughter.

"That's quite enough." McGonagall said sharply, raising her voice to be heard over the pair. They sat back down, grinning maniacally.

"Soon after that were our OWL Exams."

"I'm sure you did fine 'Mione. You probably got all O's." Sirius smiled warmly at her.

"Not quite. I got an E in DADA." She replied.

"Very good Miss Granger. I look forward to having you at Hogwarts." McGonagall smiled at her. Hermione beamed.

"ON the whole they all went rather well, until Astronomy. While we were up in the tower we saw some figures running across the lawn towards Hagrid. Umbridge was trying to get rid of him and avoid a scene like with Professor Trelawney."

"Well really. Sneaking up on him in the middle of the night." Flitwick said indignantly.

"How dare she." McGonagall cried. The others looked furious.

"Being half giant obviously gave Hagrid an edge and he was holding his own. That is, until Professor McGonagall came out to help him. The Aurors hit her with four stunning spells in the chest." Hermione finished, looking down. Everyone gasped.

"Those damn cowards." James cursed.

"They attacked, with no warning?" Dumbledore asked, his voice quiet, but somehow all the more deadly.

"Nothing. She just yelled at them to leave Hagrid alone and they stunned." Hermione told them all, grave faced.

"Absolutely outrageous." Lily scowled. "A Hogwarts teacher too."

"I'm sure I was just fine." McGonagall managed, finally speaking. She had gone pale but her face was calm.

"After that, Hagrid knocked out the rest of his attackers and ran off."

"Hagrid and Minnie in one night." Sirius said, shaking his head in disgust.

"That left Snape as the only Order member at Hogwarts." Hermione sighed. "Anyway, we all went to bed after discussing everything we had seen. Next day we had History of Magic. During the exam Harry had a vision of Sirius being tortured in the Department of Mysteries by Voldemort. He wanted him to fetch something"

"No. Not Padfoot." James cried, hugging Sirius tightly. Remus was looking at Hermione shrewdly and remembered her comment about how Harry should have learnt Occlumency. He guessed this was a false vision.

"But, how would he get Sirius?" Lily asked. "Sirius may be silly sometimes but he wouldn't leave the house if he wasn't supposed to. Would you?"

"No. I may hate it, but I wouldn't." Sirius said firmly. He looked at Hermione.

"Well naturally Harry wanted immediately to go and help Sirius." Hermione said.

"Of course." James cried immediately.

"No Harry." Remus groaned.

"Gee thanks Moony." Sirius said, looking surprised at his old friend.

"Think about it. There must be plenty of other people Voldemort could torture to get what he wanted. Why Sirius when he is supposed to be at home. It's obviously a trap for Harry." Remus explained. They all looked at Hermione, who nodded.

"After the exam, Harry told us what he had seen. I managed to convince him not to just go racing off, we needed to check if Sirius was at home or not. I thought Voldemort might have sent him a fake vision."

"Good idea 'Mione." Sirius smiled thinly, his worry for Harry increasing with every moment.

"Ginny, Neville and Luna helped us make a distraction so we could use the fireplace in Umbridge's office to contact Sirius. He wasn't in the kitchen, there was only Kreacher. He told Harry that Sirius had gone out."

"No. Pads, why would you go out?" James groaned in desperation.

"Out of milk?" Sirius tried for a smile. Nobody laughed and the tension was rising rapidly.

"We got caught by Umbridge, as did the other three. She called Snape to get some veritaserum. He said he was out of stock and while he was in the office, Harry tried to use a code to give him a message about his vision."

"Good thinking Harry. Alert the Order." Dumbledore said proudly.

"Snape couldn't pretend to understand in front of Umbridge, but Harry mistook that for not understanding at all. She then wanted to use the cruciatus curse on Harry to get him to tell the truth."

"NO!" James and Lily cried.

"That evil woman. How could she even think of using that on a student?" Remus growled. The teachers all looked horrorstruck.

"I managed to stop her by pretending we were looking for Professor Dumbledore to tell him a weapon was ready."

"Good girl. Playing on their fears. I knew I liked you for a reason." Sirius smiled at her. Hermione blushed.

"We led her into the forest, I was trying to get to Grawp, Hagrid's brother, but we got waylaid by the herd of Centaurs. Umbridge insulted them and they carried her off somewhere. Grawp saved us from them and they all took off, leaving me and Harry alone. We were about to head back to the castle when Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna appeared with our wands."

"How'd they get away?" Sirius asked.

"Told the Slytherins they wanted some sweets and gave them some skiving snackboxes. Ginny used a great bat bogey hex. They were her specialty. As half of us didn't have brooms it seemed impossible to get to London. Harry didn't want anyone going with him."

"Urgh. He has to learn to use his friends. I wouldn't have been anywhere without Sirius and Moony." James said.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." McGonagall said dryly. Lily laughed.

"In the end, Harry and I were covered in blood from the centaur attack on Grawp and attracted enough Thestrals for everyone to ride."

"Awesome." James breathed.

"Cool." Sirius grinned.

"Boys." Lily groaned.

"We got to the Ministry fine and made our way towards the Department of Mysteries. One room had loads of doors and as soon as we shut the door we came through, the room spun like mad so we couldn't tell where we came from. We tried one, but it only had a tank full of brains in. As we came out I put a spell on the door so we knew if we had been in it or not."

"At least they took someone with common sense." McGonagall sighed.

"My son has common sense." James protested indignantly.

"The next room had a large dais with a veil. Harry was sure he could hear voices coming from it." Dumbledore looked concerned. "Next was the right door. We made it to the hall of Prophecy and to the row Harry had seen Sirius, but nobody was there."

"It was a trap." Groaned Lily.

"Six teenagers, alone in the Ministry of Magic. Just great." Sirius moaned.

"Ron saw a prophecy with Harry's name on which Harry took. As he did, we got surrounded by Death Eaters."

"No, no, no. This can't be happening." James muttered to himself. Everyone looked worried.

"Malfoy was there, with Bellatrix."

"Damn my cousin to hell." Sirius growled. Hermione flinched slightly.

"They wanted the prophecy, which Harry refused to give them. He tried to keep them talking until we could make a plan. He told us to smash the shelves which would give us time to run. He kept them talking until I could relay the message to everyone. We sent exploding curses everywhere and ran."

"Good. Nice plan Harry." James said.

"We got separated. Neville was with me and Harry, the other three got lost. We managed to hold off the Death Eaters and keep moving. Unfortunately they caught up. We all got thrown backwards and I got hit with some curse and was unconscious."

"No." Sirius groaned, clutching Hermione's hand tightly. "You were ok though?" He asked urgently.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't." She assured him softly.

"Yeah. That's right." He muttered, but he didn't loosen his grip on her hand.

"Neville ended up with a broken nose and couldn't cast spells properly, which only left Harry. Finally, he found the others. Ginny had a broken ankle and Ron had been hit with some curse and was acting really stupid. The brain tank got broken and Ron touched one. It tried to strangle him."

"Oh god." Lily groaned, her head in her hands. James was clutching baby Harry to him and all the teachers looked deeply worried.

"They are just kids." Remus whispered, more to himself than anyone in particular.

"Just then the Order arrived."

"Oh thank goodness. McGonagall was duelling, it was crazy. Sirius told Harry to get the others and blasted Tonks backwards."

"NO!" Sirius roared.

"She was ok Sirius. Then you took up that duel in her place. Remus jumped in front of Harry and Neville to duel Malfoy, telling Harry to go. Neville had been hit with Tarantallegra which made helping him walk difficult and the prophecy got smashed. Then Dumbledore arrived."

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

"Then Sirius was taunting Bellatrix and she...she…" Hermione started to sob. "She killed him. He fell through the veil."

There was a deafening silence. It was only broken by Hermione's sniffling.

"No. Pads, can't be. He can't be dead." James croaked. A tear trickled down Remus' cheek as he looked over at his oldest friend. Hermione was crying quietly on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius just sat in silence. Shock was written across his pale face. Suddenly James got up and pulled Sirius into a bear hug.

"It's not gonna happen. Ok? You hear me Padfoot? You are not gonna die." James told him firmly, brushing away his own tears. The anguish and determination in his voice broke Hermione's heart all over again. It also shocked Sirius out of his shocked state.

"Neither are you Prongs." Sirius replied gruffly.

"It's not fair dammit." Remus growled. "None of it. None of you deserved to die so young. Why am I the only survivor?"

"Remus I'm so sorry." Sirius finally managed. "I failed. I left you all alone again." Remus got up and joined in the hug with Sirius and James.

"You didn't fail me ok? I thought you were gone fourteen years previously. Then you came back and probably gave me the best two years I would have had in a long time. That's more than I would ever have expected." Remus tried to explain through his own quiet sobs. "You always did more than was expected of you."

"But it wasn't enough. I didn't kill her. And I left Harry alone again."

"Sirius. It wasn't your fault." Hermione said softly. Sirius looked down at her. Then he broke free of the others and pulled her into a hug.

"Were you ok? Did anyone else.." He broke off. She shook her head.

"Some scrapes and bruises, but it was only you that..." She broke off as well, unable to say it out loud, mumbling against his shoulder.

"At least there is that. The kids all got out ok. I died making sure Harry and his friends survived. I died with a wand in my hand. No better way to go. At least it was for something good." Sirius said, looking everyone in the eye defiantly.

"Oh Sirius." Lily cried, getting up and hugging him. They all sat back down. James holding Lily and Harry close to him. Remus had one arm around Sirius' shoulder and Sirius has his arm around Hermione's waist.

The teachers watched in silence. McGonagall quietly blowing her nose and dabbing at her eyes.

"Shall we get this over with? Then we can have a break." Lily suggested. Hermione nodded and took a deep breath.

"Remus grabbed Harry to stop him trying to get Sirius back from the veil." Her voice was quiet and punctuated with hiccups.

"Thanks Remus." James muttered. Remus just nodded and gazed at the floor.

"He fixed Neville's legs as Professor Dumbledore rounded up the rest of the Death Eaters. Bellatrix ran out of the room and Harry gave chase.

"No. Harry. Not you too." James cried out in desperation as if Harry could hear him there.

"Harry started trying to duel her, taunting her that the prophecy was broken so she had failed Voldemort."

"No you idiot. Don't do that." Lily whispered in horror, clutching baby Harry tighter to her as if to make sure he was ok.

"Then Voldemort himself showed up."

Everyone tensed.

"Professor Dumbledore arrived as well and began duelling Voldemort. Fawkes joined in and then Voldemort did posses Harry."

"Shit. NO!" Sirius growled. Lily didn't even tell him off for language.

"Harry pretty much gave in, but he thought was that he would see Sirius again. The love he felt then forced Voldemort from his body and just then MInistry officials arrived and saw Voldemort just before he fled."

"Never thought I would ever be saying thank god for Sirius." Lily gave a weak chuckle.

"Professor Dumbledore sent Harry back to Hogwarts and made him wait in his office. Of course Harry now felt intensely guilty because he hadn't learnt Occlumency properly which meant he could see the vision and caused Sirius to…" Hermione gave a small hiccup and pushed on. "Be killed."

"Oh Harry. It's not your fault. If Snivelly had taught you properly, or if Dumbledore had taught you, it might have gone better." Sirius sighed. Everyone turned to glare at Dumbledore.

"Yes. You have some serious explaining to do." Lily said, glaring at the headmaster.

"He did. Although Harry had a furious temper fit before he let him explain."

"I'm not surprised. If I lived through that I wouldn't even be functional." James said in a small voice.

"Oh Prongs, you've never been properly functional anyway." Sirius gave a weak smile, which James returned reluctantly.

"He told Harry that ever since Sirius had ordered Kreacher 'out' during the Christmas holidays he had also been serving the Malfoys. He had taken it to mean 'out of the house' and gone to Bellatrix who was the closest family left. So when Harry checked in the fireplace, Kreacher lied about Sirius not being home and so Harry went off to the Ministry."

"Kreacher is the reason Sirius died?" James thundered. "That...that…" Words failed him in his anger and a small vase on the table exploded.

"Kreacher and Bellatrix teaming up to kill me. That definitely sounds like my family." Sirius remarked with feigned indifference.

"Snape had obviously realised what Harry;s crude message had meant, although he pretended otherwise. As soon as Harry and I didn't return from the forest he sent a message with what Harry had seen to headquarters."

"So he does have some use then." James growled. Remus and Sirius snorted.

"Dumbledore then explained about why Harry had to go back to the Dursley's every summer. He could not be touched by Voldemort as long as he called that place home and spent some time there every year. The protection in Lily's blood was present in the house because it also ran in Petunia."

"That's awesome Lils." James smiled, kissing her cheek softly. Lily looked overwhelmed as tears threatened to spill yet again.

"Every year Dumbledore put off telling Harry about his connection with Voldemort, deeming him too young for the burden. The prophecy that Voldemort was after was about the two of them. It said that one born to those who had thrice defied Voldemort and born in July would have the power to vanquish Voldemort. It said Voldemort would mark him as his equal and he would have power the dark lord knows not."

"Power he knows not?" Sirius asked, looking confused.

"Love." Dumbledore said softly. "Love is the basis for the protection from Lily, as well as saving him from possession in the Ministry. Voldemort does not understand love and nor does he want to. By being able to love, Harry has never seemingly been tempted by the dark side because of his love for Lily and James and Sirius too."

"That's all the power he gets? Hardly going to defeat Voldemort is it. I mean what's he supposed to do? Love the guy to death?" James snorted.

"Love protects him from Voldemort. Harry's skill will defeat him." Dumbledore said. "When the prophecy was made, it was overheard partially and Voldemort only heard the first part. It was made very recently in fact and we caught the intruder part way through it."

"So that's why Voldemort wanted Harry? And why you suggested James and I go into hiding." Lily asked. Hermione and Dumbledore nodded.

"Next day, the Prophet finally admitted that Voldemort had returned."

"Only a year too late." Remus remarked bitterly.

"They were back to being very complimentary about Harry as well. Umbridge was sacked."

"Good riddance." Everyone said in unison.

"Professor Flitwick got rid of the swamp easily, but left a small bit as a monument."

Flitwick gave a smile.

"You never did that for our magic!" James protested.

"Maybe theirs was more impressive." Flitwick said while fighting a smile. James and Sirius spluttered indignantly.

"Malfoy was fuming because the Death Eaters that got caught and put in Azkaban included his father. Professor McGonagall finally came back, having made a full recovery."

Everyone looked startled for a minute, the news about Sirius having driven that from their minds. Then they all smiled and the marauders all cheered.

"Hagrid was back as well."

"Oh good. At least Hogwarts is back to normal. Now please please can you have a boring year." Lily begged.

"Yes. Please do." James added his pleas.

"So that was the end of fifth year. Hermione looked down at her notes and decided to neglect mentioning Harry's idea that Sirius may have come back as a ghost. "At King's Cross Remus and Moody spoke to the Dursley's about treating Harry well and threatened them that they would answer to them."

"Thanks Remus." James grinned. "I would love to see the whale's face at wizards threatening him." He grinned gleefully.

"The Weasley's promised to get him out soon. Remus said that if they didn't hear from Harry every three days they would send someone to make sure he was ok. That's pretty much it." Hermione finished.

"That's more than enough. Let's have some food." Lily suggested, handing Harry to James.

"Are you ok?" Hermione whispered to Sirius.

"Not really. I guess everyone dies at some point, but Harry is going to need all the people he can get in the future. It feels like I let him down, dying."

"Sirius, you gave Harry a wonderful two years he never dreamt of having. You were the closest thing to his dad that he had and he loved you deeply. You helped him so much, never think you let him down." Hermione assured him. "Even when you died, it was fighting to keep him safe."

"Yeah. I suppose so." He mumbled, looking unconvinced. "I don't know how Lily and James have done this so far. Knowing they die so soon. And poor Moony." Sirius glanced up to make sure Remus wasn't listening.

"He was ok you know. Not the same, obviously he missed you terribly, but he was ok." She gave a small smile.

"Thanks 'Mione." Sirius said, kissing her cheek. "I'm glad you're here." He squeezed her hand and looked up expectantly as Lily came in with food.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Half-Blood Prince

After they had all finished eating, everyone turned back to Hermione.

"Are we going to start sixth year tonight?" Lily asked.

"Yes. We need to press on." Hermione said. "Well, it started with Harry at the Dursley's. Fudge had resigned as Minister for Magic and was replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour."

"He taught us one year, remember?" Sirius said, looking over at James.

"Yeah. Really knew his stuff." James agreed.

"The Prophet was back to claiming Harry was the chosen one, not a lunatic they had portrayed him as for the last year. They were also sending out leaflets on safety recommendations such as security questions and not leaving the house alone."

"Only a year too late." James sighed.

"Harry had a letter from Professor Dumbledore, saying that he would be coming to Privet Drive to escort him to the Burrow. He also said that he needed Harry's help for something."

"You're not putting him in more danger already?" Lily cried in outrage.

"I highly doubt he will be in danger if he is with me Mrs Potter." Dumbledore smiled slightly.

"Harry decided it was probably too good to be true that he was leaving after only a fortnight there so he didn't bother packing."

"Poor boy." Remus frowned.

"He had also forgotten to warn the Dursleys." Hermione added. There were sniggers around the room as everyone pictured their expressions at a wizard turning up on their doorstep with no warning.

"Professor Dumbledore enjoyed himself rather too much at the Dursley's by all accounts." Hermione grinned. "He conjured drinks for everyone and when they Dursley's didn't drink them, the glasses kept hitting them on the head."

"Brilliant." James and Sirius grinned.

"Professor Dumbledore also wanted to go over Sirius' will." The atmosphere in the room deflated immediately. "He had left Harry Grimmauld Place."

"Oh, I'm sorry kid. Don't feel obliged to live there." Sirius frowned, looking over at Harry.

"The Order had to vacate in case the house was charmed so only a pureblood could own it. They weren't sure that Harry could as he wasn't even a Black."

"Lucky him." Sirius scowled. "Wish I wasn't."

"You're an honorary Potter." James told him, clapping him on the back. Sirius smiled at his best friend.

"To test it, Dumbledore summoned Kreacher. If Harry got the house, he also got Kreacher."

"Oh good lord. I am sorry Harry. But he knows too much to get passed to anyone else." SIrius sighed.

"He is the reason you died. I highly doubt Harry wants anything to do with him." Remus pointed out with a scowl.

"As Mr Black said, Kreacher lived with the Order for over a year, he will know things we cannot afford Lord Voldemort to know." Dumbledore said.

"It worked and Harry could order Kreacher around. So he ordered him to go and work at Hogwarts. That way he wouldn't have to see him."

"Good plan." Lily smiled.

"Professor Dumbledore then told the Dursley's Harry would come of age at 17 and asked that he could return one last time at the end of the year until his 17th birthday to ensure his protection for as long as possible."

"At least Petunia is keeping Harry protected, even if it is unwillingly." James comforted Lily. She gave him a small smile but said nothing.

"Harry then quickly ran upstairs to pack and then he left with Professor Dumbledore. He took Harry with Side along apparition to a muggle village."

"Yuck. I remember being take for side along apparition. It's awful." Sirius shuddered.

"It's not that bad." James smirked.

"You didn't get taken by Moony and get splinched." Sirius scowled. James and Remus laughed.

"I'm not even going to ask." Lily rolled her eyes.

"They went to an old muggle house that looked like there had been an attack. It turned out Horace Slughorn was there and he had made the scene to make it look like he had already left."

"Old Sluggy!" Sirius grinned.

"I miss him already." Lily smiled fondly, remembering her favourite teacher.

"Well, Professor Dumbledore wanted him to teach at Hogwarts again."

"Oh. So that's why Harry is going? Don't you think he has enough people trying to use him for his fame?" Lily frowned at Dumbledore.

"He does Mrs Potter. It must be very important for Horace to come back to Hogwarts." Dumbledore told her gravely.

"They stayed for a drink and then Professor Dumbledore excused himself to go to the loo. Slughorn mentioned Lily, saying she was one of his absolute favourites."

Lily blushed. "I like him too."

"Then he started talking about all his other famous contacts. He seemed to think that teaching would declare his support for the Order. Harry pointed out that most aren't in it and that it was probably safer for him there than constantly on the run."

"Atta boy Harry." James grinned. "His father's powers of persuasion."

"He isn't trying to win a girl James. That's the only thing your powers work on." Remus grinned.

"He is obviously using his mother's brains." Flitwick smiled over at Lily.

"As they were leaving, Slughorn agreed to teach. Professor Dumbledore took Harry to the Burrow and told him he wished to give him private lessons that year."

"Wow." Sirius breathed, looking awed. Dumbledore was looking eager.

"When they arrived, Tonks was just leaving. Mrs Weasley made Harry some soup. Mr Weasley had recently been promoted and was working late."

"Good. Arthur deserves it." Lily said firmly. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"It turned out that the twins were now living in a flat above their joke shop, so Harry stayed in their room."

"They finally got it up and running?" James asked eagerly.

"Brilliant!" Sirius beamed, bouncing up and down in his seat. "I can't wait to see it and help them set it up of course."

"Next morning Ron and I woke him up and he told us about Slughorn. Then Ginny came in followed by Fleur Delacour."

"The Beauxbatons champion from the triwizard tournament?" Lily asked. Hermione nodded.

"Why is she there?" Asked Remus.

"She was engaged to Bill Weasley. Ginny and Mrs Weasley weren't really big fans of her. Nor was I to be honest. She was very full of herself."

"Yet you like Sirius?" Lily questioned. Hermione blushed.

"She and I became friends in the end." Hermione said. James chuckled.

"Yeah, you get used to Padfoot in the end too."

"She really liked Harry ever since he rescued her sister in the lake task, so she was bringing him breakfast in bed."

"While engaged. Honestly." Remus frowned.

"Go son. Got the ladies flocking." James smirked. Lily hit him over the head. "Ow! Don't do that Lilykins."

"She didn't like him romantically." Hermione clarified. "Then we started talking about how they would prefer Tonks in the family instead of Fleur."

"Ok, talking about my little cousin dating is just weird." Sirius complained. Hermione smirked to herself, taking a sneak peak over at Remus who was too busy laughing at Sirius to notice.

"Harry finally mentioned he was getting private lessons and we speculated what they might be about for a while. I was looking at some of the twins' stuff and got hit with a punching telescope."

James snorted and Sirius was torn between laughing and concern.

"You were ok, right?" He asked.

"Fine. The twins got rid of it soon enough." She smiled sadly, thinking about Fred. "That morning our OWL Results arrived."

"Ooohh, how did Harry do?" James asked eagerly.

"How did you do? All O's?" Sirius asked her.

"I got O's in everything except DADA. I got an E in that. Harry got an D in History of Magic, but he did have the vision of Sirius in that exam."

"Yeah. That would put you off an already dull subject." James agreed to lighten the mood.

"He got a P in Divination."

"Oh well. It's not like he actually tried." Sirius smiled.

"That doesn't make it ok." Lily snapped.

"He got an A in Astronomy, even though Umbridge tried to get rid of Hagrid during our exam and we saw that. He got E's in Care of Magical Creatures, Charms," Flitwick beamed proudly, "Herbology, Potions and Transfiguration." McGonagall also smiled warmly.

"What about DADA?" James asked.

"He got an O."

"Well done son!" James cheered. Remus smiled, feeling rather proud as well.

"Not a bad set of grades." Lily smiled. "Well done Harry."

"Ron got pretty much the same but he got an E in DADA. Harry also got made Quidditch captain."

"YES!" James yelled. "THAT'S MY BOY!" He did a jig around the room and was still bouncing up and down when Lily finally pulled him back to his chair. "Just like his daddy."

"Soon we got to go to Diagon Alley. We saw Malfoy in Madam Malkin's. He got really angry when she touched his left arm. His mother was with him and Harry almost started a fight in the shop. The Malfoys left and we quickly bought our robes."

"You shoulda got a couple of good shots in." Sirius said.

"Then we went to get our books. Finally we went to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes."

"About time too." James said indignantly.

"They had Skiving snackboxes, magical quills for self inking and spell checking. They also had Daydream charms, love potions, edible dark marks, shield clothing such as hats, gloves and cloaks."

"That is incredible magic." McGonagall said looking slightly proud and worried at the same time. James and Sirius looked like they were in heaven.

"They said that, as Harry helped them start up, he could have whatever he liked for free." Hermione grinned.

"Oh my god. There aren't words for how jealous I am of my own son." James said, open mouthed and practically drooling.

"Hey, Prongs, if we help them start up, we could help run it and use all that stuff too." Sirius grinned evilly.

"No." Lily said firmly.

"Yeah, and we can give loads of stuff to Harry for school." James laughed.

"No!" McGonagall cried.

"While we were there, Harry saw Draco Malfoy slipping off on his own towards Knockturn Alley. So we put the cloak on and followed him. He went to Borgin and Burkes. Using extendable ears, we overheard him wanting something fixed. He also wanted another one kept safe. It sounded like there was a pair. Malfoy had a broken one and the other was in the shop."

"It can't be good whatever it is." Sirius said darkly. "Nothing is in that shop."

"Harry thought that Malfoy had been made a Death eater to replace his father."

"At sixteen? Unlikely." Remus frowned.

"Not if he wanted a spy at Hogwarts." Sirius replied.

"Well Ron and I didn't think it was very likely." Hermione didn't add how much she regretted not listening more carefully to Harry. "We thought that he just wanted to act tough or something. On the Platform, Harry did try to tell Mr Weasley about his suspicions but he said that they had already raided Malfoy Manor and taken all dark objects."

"Maybe he isn't keeping it there." Lily argued.

"Well Harry thought they must have missed it or something."

"He has good instincts. It couldn't hurt to check it out." James said.

"Ron and I had prefect duty so Harry sat with Luna and Neville. He had decided not to continue the DA this year as Umbridge was gone. During the journey he got an invitation to see Horace Slughorn in his compartment for lunch."

"No. Get out while you can." James groaned.

"They weren't _that _bad." Lily disagreed. Sirius snorted.

"I went as a plus one to Gwenog Jones once. It was the most awful party ever." He said.

"Anyway. Neville also had an invitation so they went along together. Once they got there they found that Ginny had also been invited."

"Ginny Weasley? What was her invite for?" Lily asked curiously.

"On the way to lunch, Slughorn saw her cast a bat bogey hex on an annoying Hufflepuff boy in our year. That hex is her speciality." Hermione explained. James and Sirius sniggered.

"A redhead and good with hexes. That's a good girl right there Harry." James smiled.

"Slughorn kept going on about the Ministry and what happened that summer. Once it was over, Harry used to cloak to follow a sixth year Slytherin back to his compartment and listen in on Draco Malfoy."

"Good plan." Sirius grinned approvingly.

"Malfoy said he might not be at Hogwarts for his seventh year, he might have moved on. Then he said that maybe the job he had been given didn't require NEWTs to do."

"So Harry was right and he is an official Death Eater?" James asked.

"Or, he is just showing off in front of his friends." Remus said slowly.

"Either way, Malfoy had seen Harry's foot as he tried to hide in the compartment and when the train stopped, he hexed Harry. He broke his nose and then left him on the train under the cloak." McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged worried glances.

"I'm gonna kill that slimeball." Sirius growled.

"Thankfully Tonks had been stationed at Hogsmeade as extra protection. She realised Harry hadn't gotten off the train and found him in time."

"Go Nymphadora." Sirius smiled.

"She will kill you if you call her that." Hermione laughed. "It's Tonks."

"I don't blame her." James chuckled.

"Tonks fixed his nose and took him back to school. Snape collected him from the gate." There was a chorus of groans from the Marauders. "He took points for being late and not in his wouldn't let Harry get changed before going into the Great Hall."

"Urgh. I'm just so sick of Snivellus." James fumed. "It's not as if he did it on purpose. And by the sound of it, it should be obvious Harry isn't me and doesn't want the attention."

"Yeah well, Snivellus called us cowards for picking on him in a group. Now he is taking it out on a kid when he is in a position of power. If that don't make him a coward I don't know what does." Sirius snarled.

"I cleaned the blood off his face and we found out the Slughorn would be teaching us potions that year. Snape would be teaching DADA."

"Just great. This gets better and better." Remus said sarcastically.

"Well, as he knows so much about the Dark Arts he should be able to teach better than most the defenses against it." Lily pointed out.

"After dinner, Harry told us what happened on the train. Ron and I thought Malfoy was just showing off." Remus smiled at her. "We also met Hagrid. We failed to mention that none of us were taking Care of Magical Creatures that year."

"Poor Hagrid." Lily frowned sadly.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: HBP part 2

"Next day, Harry found out that as Slughorn was teaching potions instead of Snape, he could take that as a NEWT so could still become an auror. However, he didn't have any books or ingredients because he didn't think he could take it."

"Old Sluggy won't mind. Not when it's 'the Chosen One.'" James snorted. "Lily got away with anything in his lessons."

"As Harry was also Quidditch captain, Professor McGonagall told him she had some names to organise tryouts. The team had lost pretty much all its members except one chaser and Ron as keeper, but Harry decided to hold tryouts for every position except seeker."

"Oh no. Of course, the twins are gone." Sirius looked crestfallen.

"In DADA we started using non-verbal spells. Harry got detention for cheeking Snape."

"Atta boy son." James grinned proudly. Lily hit his arm.

"Do not encourage my son to be a smart mouth to his teachers." She said disapprovingly.

"In Potions, Harry and Ron both got given books by Slughorn. Harry's had loads of scribbles in as the previous owner had written his own instructions and some of his own spells. It said it was the property of the Half-Blood Prince." Lily gasped, eyes wide.

"You know who it is?" Remus asked her. She nodded.

"That's Sev's old potions book. I wonder why he left it there."

"My son is using instructions and spells made by Snivelly?" James asked looking horrified.

"At least he was good at potions. The instructions are probably better than the book's." Remus argued reasonably.

"They were. We were supposed to make Draught of living death and Harry followed the scribbled instructions rather than the usual ones. He did the best and Slughorn gave him a small bottle of Felix Felicis."

"That lucky kid." Sirius exclaimed.

"Well that is the point." Hermione grinned. Sirius chuckled. "Anyway, I was mad at him for following random instructions in a book when he didn't know who had written them."

"As you should be Miss Granger." McGonagall sniffed. "That could have gone very wrong."

"I did try to find out who it was but no luck."

"First time the library let you down?" Sirius asked innocently. Hermione glared.

"Harry then had his first lesson with Professor Dumbledore." Everyone leaned forward eagerly. "He told Harry that they would basically be learning about Voldemort. He showed Harry a memory. A Ministry official went to an old house. Somebody had nailed a snake to the front door."

"That's disgusting." Lily shuddered.

"A man appeared in front of Bob Ogden, who was the Ministry official, and spoke to him in parseltongue, which he didn't understand but Harry did. Suddenly he attacked Ogden and then an older man came out of the cottage yelling at the boy. The two men were Morfin and Marvolo Gaunt."

Dumbledore took a sharp intake of breath. Everyone looked at him questioningly.

"That is Lord Voldemort's uncle and grandfather." He explained. Everyone frowned at the thought of Voldemort's family.

"Mr Gaunt was very hostile and Ogden was very persistent. He was there to see Morfin, who had apparently attacked a muggle. Inside the cottage, he saw Merope Gaunt."

"Voldemort's mother?" Lily gasped. Dumbledore and Hermione nodded.

"Her magic was very poor as she was terrified of her father and brother. Marvolo Gaunt was set on both proving his own pure blood and asking about Ogden's. His son's summons to a Ministry hearing only infuriated him. He was the worst pureblood fanatic by all accounts."

"No surprises there." Sirius spat.

"While they were talking a carriage rode by outside. In it were two muggles, one called Tom Riddle."

"Voldemort's father was a muggle?" James asked in astonishment. "How can he have such a pureblood mania then?"

"He despises his father." Hermione said. "That was the muggle that Morfin attacked. He saw his sister had developed a liking for him and cursed him. While Ogden was there Morfin told his father in Parseltongue that the muggle outside was one his sister liked. Their father flew into a fury and attacked Merope. Ogden blasted Marvolo away from her and then Morfin started hexing everything in sight. He ran and apparated back to the Ministry."

"Wow. I feel sorry for Merope." James said. "Shame she had to give birth to worse spawn than the family she came from."

"I agree, that poor girl." Lily frowned.

"Harry and Professor Dumbledore left the memory. Dumbledore told Harry that Ogden came back fifteen minutes later with reinforcements. Marvolo and Morfin went to Azkaban. While they were away Merope was able to use magic a little better. He guessed that she used a love potion and she ran away with Tom Riddle."

"So Voldemort was made by love potion?" James asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"We don't know for sure but it's the most likely guess." Hermione told him.

"Does that have anything to do with why he can't seem to understand love?" Lily asked curiously. Dumbledore studied her.

"It may, Mrs Potter. Not many people are under the effects of love potion very long, certainly not long enough to conceive a child."

"A few months later, Tom Riddle returned to the village without Merope. The Professor guessed she had hoped that he had been with her long enough to actually love her. Or maybe as she was pregnant, he would stay for the baby. Either way, she was wrong and he left."

"He didn't care that he had a child?" Remus asked, horrified. Hermione shook her head.

"Harry noticed that Professor Dumbledore actually had a ring that Marvolo Gaunt had been wearing, a family heirloom proving his purity of blood."

"Why did Albus have such a ring?" McGonagall asked.

"Well all the Gaunt's died, as for why he found it, I shall tell you later." Hermione smiled. Everyone groaned. "With our workloads growing, we didn't have time to visit Hagrid. He was upset with us for not taking his subject and ignored us in corridors."

"You should have explained." Sirius said.

"How do you explain that? Sorry Hagrid, but given your liking for really dangerous creatures we didn't want to continue anymore?" James asked sarcastically.

"We decided to go down after the Quidditch tryouts."

"Good. Get your priorities in order." James nodded approvingly.

"Their friend should be the priority." Lily disagreed, glaring at him.

"During breakfast, a new copy of Advanced potion making arrived, but Harry just swapped covers so he could give the new book back to Slughorn." Hermione looked disapproving.

"Nice, Harry." Sirius grinned.

"At the tryouts there was a boy called Cormac McLaggen. He was a complete arrogant idiot." Lily glanced slyly over at James, who failed to notice.

"He was really rude and annoying so I may have confunded him so he missed the last penalty in his keeper tryout. Ron got in instead." Hermione blushed.

"You confunded someone? Brilliant." Sirius laughed. All the Professors looked scandalised, as did Remus.

"You interfered at Quidditch tryouts?" James looked horrified.

"For the good of the team." Hermione assured him. "As was proven later." She added. James didn't look convinced. "Afterwards we went to see Hagrid. He wasn't very happy to see us. He wouldn't talk to us until Harry threatened to break down his door."

"He wouldn't?" Lily asked.

"I doubt it. But Hagrid came out before he had a chance to try anyway." Hermione went on quickly. "He let us in and we tried to explain that we couldn't fit in into our timetables. He confessed that Aragog was dying."

"The giant spider who tried to eat Harry and Ron second year?" Remus enquired. Hermione nodded. James shuddered.

"'Bout time too. That thing is over fifty years old." Sirius said.

"We offered to help, but he turned it down."

"Thank goodness. I do not want my son near that monster ever again." Lily interjected.

"However, the offer seemed to make him feel better and he was soon back to normal with us. On the way back, Harry asked if I had confunded McLaggen and I told him I had, but not to tell Ron. If he knew he got in because of that his confidence would be shot."

"Oh good. Helping the team again." James smiled approvingly.

"Honestly James, Quidditch isn't the only thing in life." Lily rolled her eyes.

"How dare you!" He exclaimed, looking offended. "Of course it is."

"Slughorn asked Harry to one of his meetings, but Harry had his detention with Snape. Slughorn tried to convince Snape to move the detention."

"Ha! Bet Snivelly loved that. Asked to move detention because Harry is so famous." Sirius snickered.

"His face must have been priceless." James chuckled.

"Soon it was a Hogsmeade weekend. It was really cold so we spent most of it in the three broomsticks. Slughorn invited Harry to another meeting but he had another appointment with Professor Dumbledore."

"Bet Slughorn hated that." Lily smiled. "The meetings weren't that bad really." Hermione raised an eyebrow. Lily blushed slightly.

"On the way back we saw Katie Bell, a Gryffindor chaser, and her friend ahead of us arguing. They had a package, it tore open and Katierose in the air and then collapsed. Just then Hagrid arrived and took her to the castle. Harry wrapped the parcel, which was a necklace, and took it back with us."

"Someone tried to send a cursed item to Hogwarts? Who would want to attack Katie?" Lily asked, open mouthed.

"There must be security measures against such things. I doubt she would have even gotten it in the castle." Remus frowned. "If it was for her, she would have opened it right? So if she was delivering it, someone either didn't know about the wards, or was desperate." He pointed out.

"But why on earth would Katie want to curse someone? She would have known about the wards." Lily argued.

"Her friend, Leanne, told us that she went into the bathroom and came back with the parcel." Hermione told them.

"So someone wanted her to curse someone at the castle?" James asked. Hermione nodded.

"Well normally the target is Harry, but as you were right behind her, it can't be. Professor Dumbledore maybe?" Remus suggested. Hermione fought a smile.

"We went and told Professor McGonagall what happened. Harry tried to blame Malfoy."

"She got it in a girls bathroom." Sirius pointed out.

"But Malfoy had been in the castle in detention anyway." Hermione continued. "Katie had to go to St Mungos."

"Poor girl." Lily sighed.

"Then Harry had his next meeting with Professor Dumbledore. He told Harry that Merope Gaunt had sold her necklace, which was the famous locket of Slytherin to Borgin and Burkes at the end of her pregnancy. She died shortly after Tom Riddle jr was born."

"That's why he was raised in an orphanage." McGonagall frowned. Everyone stared at her. "I was at school with Tom Riddle." She explained with a sigh. The marauders and Lily all gaped at her.

"Then he showed Harry a memory of first meeting Riddle. He went to the orphanage and told a young Tom Riddle that he was a wizard. Riddle readily believed he was a wizard. He told the professor about all sorts of magic he had done and he had an unusual amount of control over it already. Even at that age he used magic for revenge or to frighten other people in the orphanage."

"Even at 11?" James asked in astonishment. "I know he didn't exactly had a wonderful childhood, but that's no excuse for what he has done."

"Of course not. There is no excuse." Sirius said sharply.

"Professor Dumbledore offered to accompany Riddle to buy his school things but he prefered to work alone."

"Friendless and operating on his own even back then. Nothing changed when he got to Hogwarts." Dumbledore sighed. "Plenty of admirers, but no friends."

"How can anyone not want friends?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Well, they could be like you." Lily interjected with a sly smile. Sirius put on an offended face and held his hand over his heart.

"You wound me Lily flower." He complained. Lily snorted.

"Riddle also collected items from other kids that he bullied. He showed plenty of instincts for control and cruelty."

"No 11 year old kid should have any instincts for cruelty. That's just wrong." Remus frowned.

"It's not that uncommon for young children to be bullies. Look at Dudley Dursley, however Riddle had the advantage of being magical." Hermione said.

"An advantage I doubt he really needed." James muttered. "He could probably just manipulate people anyway."

"Next morning, Harry told us what he had seen. Then Ron and I got in an argument about Slughorn's christmas party. I was going to invite him as he was being left out all the time, but he started mouthing off about me and McLaggen so I didn't bother." Hermione flushed slightly.

"Sure that's the only reason you were going to invite him." James teased. Sirius tried to hide his scowl.

"Harry had to invite Dean Thomas, a dorm mate of his, to play on the Quidditch team as Katie was still injured. The team were great except Ron. He had such a bad case of nerves all the time. On the way back from practice, Harry and Ron walked in on Ginny and Dean kissing. That finally got Harry to realise he had feelings for Ginny."

"Awww, Harry's got a crush." James cooed.

"His best mate's sister. Brave move." Sirius whistled.

"And she was his first fan." Remus pointed out.

"Ron had the tact of a toad and annoyed Ginny. She started shouting about how both of his friends had kissed people, it was only him who had a problem with it. Ron apparently got touchy because I had kissed Krum so Harry didn't want to admit his feelings for Ginny. Although I think Ron was the only person who remained oblivious. He was pretty obvious."

"So Ron sounds like you Sirius. Tact of a toad." James grinned.

"I have loads of tact." Sirius protested.

"Yes. How about my first proper date with James, when you caught us holding hands and starting yelling for all of Hogsmeade to hear about how James had finally slipped me love potion." Lily looked over at him, faintly amused.

"Oh yeah, that was hilarious. James' face was redder than your hair." Remus laughed.

"I'm still not convinced he didn't." Sirius said seriously.

"I wouldn't do that." James scowled at his best mate. "It was inevitable she would fall for the great Potter charm." He grinned over at Lily and ducked when she tried to hit him.

"Mr Black, you are many things, tactful is not one of them." McGonagall informed him.

"Minnie! I thought you were on my side?" Sirius pouted.

"Moving on." Hermione interrupted quickly. "Before the Quidditch match, Ron was really aggressive and nervous. Harry pretended to slip Felix Felicis into his drink. I thought he had really done it, but Ron drank it anyway. Ron played excellently and Gryffindor won."

"YEAH!" James and Sirius cheered.

"Harry admitted he hadn't put anything in the drink. At the after party, we found Ron snogging Lavender Brown very publicly."

"Yet he has issues with everyone else kissing?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. Hermione just shrugged. "Shall we take a break?" Everyone nodded. Lily got up and went to the kitchen. The Professors began talking quietly in the corner and James started sorting out Harry. Sirius turned to Hermione, quickly casting Muffliato.

"Did you ever end up going out with Ron?" He asked in an undertone. Hermione bit her lip.

"We got together just before the final battle." She admitted. Sirius frowned. Jealousy welling up inside him, along with a little bit of worry.

"Were you still with him when you came here?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to that.

"Well, no. We broke it off before I came."

"Because you came or because it wasn't working?" Sirius pressed.

"Both." Hermione looked at her hands. "Me coming here is the reason we ended it when we did, but it wasn't working anyway. We were just too different. He became so overprotective and we bickered all the time."

"Well, I can't blame him for being overprotective. I would hate for anything to happen to you." Sirius told her.

"I will try to skip over the parts about me and Ron."

"Just tell the story however you have to. Just don't blame me for being a little jealous." He gave a small smile and pulled her into a hug. "You're not even mine and I can't stand thinking about you with other guys." He admitted ruefully. She slipped her hand into his.

"Maybe we can fix that. I know it's really soon but I can't help liking you Sirius. You've made it so much easier coming here. All of you have, but you in particular and I…" She didn't get to finish before Sirius spoke.

"'Mione, you entranced me ever since you fell through the fireplace. Would you do me the honour of becoming my girlfriend?" He asked. Hermione just nodded and his face lit up like Christmas. Sirius leant in and kissed her passionately. She responded with equal fervour until James wolf whistled and she remembered they had an audience. Hermione sat back, blushing but Sirius held her close to him.

"'Bout time Pads." James grinned at his best mate. Sirius undid his spell, still beaming. "Just never hurt her ok? 'Mione is like family." Hermione blushed an even deeper scarlett.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Sirius told him.

"Good. I'd hate to kill ya." Remus grinned. "Can't have you hurting my cousin." Sirius laughed.


	23. Chapter 23

I'm really sorry to all those who think this is a new chapter...it's not. My copy of HBP has been borrowed by somebody so I have been unable to write the next part of this story. I hope to have an update by next weekend.

Thank you all for your wonderful support. I promise this is still going.

Lauren xx


	24. Chapter 24

(A/N I finally got myself a new copy! I'm so sorry it took horrendously long. Thank you for the continued support even while I was MIA. I shall now definitely be updating at least once a week. Keep reviewing it makes my day.

Fangsanddaggers: I hope you didn't make too big a hole in the carpet from all your pacing :) )

Chapter 23: Slughorn's memory

Once everyone had calmed down all the teachers except for Dumbledore returned to the school, promising to return once they had checked everything.

"As Christmas came closer, I overheard loads of girls trying to get Harry to take them to Slughorn's party. They were planning on slipping him love potion." Hermione told them all.

"Wow, my son is so popular." James grinned smugly.

"Almost as famous as me." Sirius puffed out his chest.

"You sound like Lockhart." Lily shot at him. HIs face fell and he turned to Hermione.

"I don't sound like him."

"Yeah...you kinda do." She told him. He pouted.

"I'm not that bad." He muttered.

"A girl called Romilda Vane gave him some chocolate cauldrons, which he stashed in his trunk and hid. He ended up inviting Luna Lovegood to go as friends."

"Lovegood? Could do worse son." James mused.

"Then I admitted to Harry and Parvati at the Gryffindor table that I was going with Cormac McLaggen."

"The guy you called an arrogant idiot not so long ago?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow. Hermione looked faintly embarrassed.

"I was trying to annoy Ron the most. He was a self-obsessed idiot too so I ditched him as soon as I could."

"Self-obsessed idiot? Now who does that remind you of Padfoot?" Remus asked with a grin.

"James." Sirius answered quickly. Lily laughed.

"Oi, Padfoot, I think he meant you." James told him.

"Part way through the party, Flich dragged Malfoy in saying he caught him lurking in a corridor upstairs apparently saying he was invited to the party. Slughorn let him stay but Snape took him out and Harry followed them under the cloak."

"Of course he did." Lily rolled her eyes.

"He is learning, keep it with you at all times. And the map." James said seriously.

"Took him a while to learn though, must take after his father." Sirius laughed. James threw a cushion at him.

"He overheard Snape offering to help Malfoy with a task that his master had given him. Snape also said he had made the unbreakable vow to Narcissa to protect Malfoy."

"He did what?" Lily gasped.

"Malfoy's master? That has to be Voldemort. Snape is obviously a Death Eater." James scowled. McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged worried glances.

"So there is a Death Eater teaching DADA at Hogwarts?" Remus asked, his face pale.

"I'm sure I would not have appointed him to the position if I felt he would be a danger to the students." Dumbledore told them firmly.

"Harry and Ron went back to the Burrow for Christmas. He told Ron what had happened and he still didn't believe that Malfoy was working for Voldemort. Then he mentioned it to Mr Weasley and Remus. Neither of whom thought it was much to worry about either. Remus said that if Professor Dumbledore trusted Snape then that was good enough for him."

"Thank you Mr Lupin." Dumbledore smiled at him.

"Harry asked him if he knew who the Half-Blood Prince was, but Remus didn't. During Christmas dinner the Minister for Magic dropped by under the pretence Percy wanted to visit his family. He asked Harry to walk with him around the Burrow grounds while Percy said hello."

"I very much doubt Percy wanted to be there at all." Sirius snorted.

"It's obviously an excuse to talk to Harry." Lily sighed.

"It was. He wanted Harry to be a poster boy for the Ministry. Be seen supporting them to raise morale."

"After everything the Ministry did to Harry the year before?" Remus asked incredulously. Hermione nodded.

"Bet Harry didn't like that." James snorted.

"He didn't. Harry said he disagreed with most of what the Ministry was doing and he refused the proposal.

"Scrimgeour also wanted to know where Professor Dumbledore was going when he left the school. Harry told him he didn't know and that, even if he did, he wouldn't say. He accused Harry of being 'Dumbledore's man through and through'. Harry said he was." Dumbledore smiled over at Hermione with a tear in his eye.

"Good for Harry." James cheered. McGonagall was also smiling rather proudly.

"When we came back, Harry told me what Malfoy and Snape had said and I agreed with Ron. We found out that we could take apparition lessons that term."

"Ooh, those are great." James beamed.

"Only if you manage it first time." Remus grumbled.

"Oh yeah, you managed to splinch yourself didn't you Moony?" Sirius chuckled.

"Then Harry had his next meeting with Professor Dumbledore. The first memory he showed him was of Morfin Gaunt."

"Voldemort's uncle?" Lily frowned, trying to remember. Hermione nodded.

"He had been released from Azkaban by then but Marvolo Gaunt had died. Anyway, Voldemort returned to his old home when he was sixteen. He found his uncle there and spoke to him in parseltongue. He told Voldemort about his father, the muggle Tom Riddle, who lived with his parents in the village. Morfin told him about Merope running off with Riddle Snr and then him coming back."

"I'm guessing he didn't like that. His father being a muggle and leaving his mother." James frowned.

"Nope. The memory ended because Morfin had his memory modified by Voldemort. Voldemort killed his father and grandparents, then modified Morfin's memory so that Morfin thought he had killed them."

"He murdered his own family, at sixteen?" Lily gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in horror. Hermione nodded gravely.

"He also stole Morfin's ring which was a family heirloom."

"Well, if he did that at sixteen, there is more proof that he would have use for kids that age, like Malfoy." James pointed out.

"We hadn't thought about it like that." Hermione admitted. "The next memory he showed Harry was one of Riddle back in school. He was at a slug club meeting."

"Voldemort was one of Slughorn's favourites?" Sirius looked appalled.

"He was powerful, manipulative and cunning. Of course he was a favourite." Lily looked disgusted.

"Well, he asked Slughorn about Horcruxes." Sirius gasped and Dumbledore's mouth twisted into a grimace and a look of understanding passed over his face.

"What's a horcrux?" James asked.

"Some of the darkest magic you will ever find." Sirius told them.

"How do you know?" Lily asked him.

"Please, my house was the epitome of dark magic, there are books in there on every piece of dark magic you can think of." He snarled. "If we had visitors over, Reg and I had to go to the library and read up on stuff to keep us out of the way."

"Grimmauld Place, of course. I never thought to look there." Hermione clapped a hand to her forehead.

"You wouldn't want to 'Mione."

"Well, when Harry told us about the memory, there was nothing about them in the library." She explained.

"I should think not." Dumbledore said sharply.

"Well, they saw that the memory had been tampered with. It showed Slughorn yelling at Voldemort saying he knew nothing about horcruxes but in a white mist. Professor Dumbledore asked Harry to try and get the real memory out of him."

"Nothing like an easy task, eh Dumbledore." Sirius said sarcastically.

"It is important or I wouldn't have asked Harry to do it." Dumbledore told them.

"Why Harry?" Remus asked.

"Because Harry is one of his favourites, he needs to use his exceptional charm, that he got from me, and trick him into giving up the memory." James stated. Lily rolled her eyes but agreed.

"I did tell him to think up a strategy but he decided on Ron's idea of just hanging back after class and asking for it. We were making antidotes using Golpalott's Third Law which neither of them understood. Harry just grabbed a bezoar."

"Genius." James laughed.

"But he didn't actually do any work." Lily frowned.

"Well he just told Harry he had nerve and was just like his mother." Hermione gave a small smile, which Lily returned.

"Slughorn saw right through his attempt and refused him the memory. He decided to not say anything again for a while, trying to make him forget or think Harry had given up."

"If he thinks Harry is anything like Lily he will know that isn't the end of it." James laughed.

"Or you." Sirius put it. "It takes quite some persistence to ask the same girl out every day for four years."

"It was worth it." James smiled over at Lily.

"Meanwhile we started apparition lessons although for a while nothing happened except somebody splinched." Hermione continued.

"Ouch." Remus flinched slightly.

"During that lesson Harry overheard Malfoy talking to Crabbe and Goyle, saying that something was taking longer than he thought and he needed them to keep lookout."

"So he really is up to something suspicious?" Lily breathed.

"But yet again, nobody believes Harry." Remus sighed.

"On Ron's birthday Harry was still trying to stalk Malfoy and find out what he was up to. While he was searching his trunk for something he threw out the chocolate cauldrons Romilda had given him. They accidentally got thrown onto Ron's bed and he thought they were another present. So he ate three and soon found that he was obsessively in love with Romilda."

"She tried to feed Harry love potion?" James laughed.

"Like father, like son." Sirius chuckled. "How many love potions did people try and slip you?"

"I lost count." James grinned.

"Why, was it over five? I wasn't sure you could count that high anyway." Lily grinned slyly. James scowled.

"Definitely over five. Especially after the Quidditch cup win in sixth year.." He told her.

"So Harry decided to take Ron down to Slughorn for a cure. They managed to cure him and then Slughorn gave out some mead as a birthday drink. However Ron was poisoned. Slughorn seemed to be paralysed so Harry searched the drawers and found the bezoar from our previous lesson and saved him."

"Quick thinking son." James smiled proudly.

"Definitely. But why would Slughorn try to poison Ron?" Lily asked.

"Well Slughorn said it was supposed to be a present for Dumbledore but being himself, he opened it anyway." Hermione informed them.

"Wait, the girl with the necklace, she was supposed to give it to someone at the castle wasn't she? And now Slughorn has a poisoned bottle of mead for Professor Dumbledore, what if Malfoy is trying to kill Dumbledore." Remus breathed. Everybody stared at him in shock.

"No way would Voldemort think Malfoy was capable of killing Dumbledore." Sirius scoffed.

"Harry thinks Malfoy is up to something, and hearing about this I'm inclined to agree with him. Surely he wouldn't need lookouts unless it was something he definitely shouldn't be doing. The two attempts were both unlikely to reach the intended target and so are evidently not the work of a trained killer." James argued.

"Also, still being at Hogwarts actually makes him the perfect age for the task." Lily put in. They all sat in silence before Hermione decided to carry on.

"While Ron was in the hospital wing Harry and the Weasleys were discussing what happened and why Ron ended up being poisoned. Hagrid accidentally let slip that Dumbledore was angry with Snape. Snape seemed to think Dumbledore took too much for granted and that he might not want to do it anymore."

"Do what?" Sirius asked.

"Hagrid didn't hear what it was. When we finally got back to the common room, I went to bed and Harry got cornered by McLaggen. Ron wouldn't be fit for the Quidditch match coming up so he would be playing keeper."

"This should be interesting." Remus grinned.

"On the way to the match, he saw Malfoy with a couple of girls and Harry was annoyed he couldn't follow him. At the match McLaggen got so busy yelling at Ginny for losing the Quaffle that he didn't notice Hufflepuff score."

"He what?" James gaped. "Noooo, bring Ron back!"

"He's poisoned." Lily pointed out.

"He would still be better." James crossed his arms stubbornly.

"I agree with James on that one. Later McLaggen actually grabbed one of the beater's bats and tried to show him how to hit a Bludger properly. He ended up hitting Harry and knocking him out."

"That idiot. No wonder he never made the team before. I thought James was arrogant, but even he wasn't that bad." Lily fumed.

"In the hospital wing he pondered over Malfoy again. Then he decided to ask Kreacher to follow him and find out what he was up to."

"Great idea." Remus said.

"He'd better close up every loophole or he will tell Malfoy." Sirius sighed.

"He did. Dobby also decided to help because he loved Harry so much. Dumbledore summoned Harry for another lesson and was disappointed that he didn't have the memory yet. He did show Harry another two memories."

"You have an awful lot of memories about Voldemort." Lily commented.

"It is important to know such things." Dumbledore said.

"First of all he told Harry that after he left Hogwarts he asked for a teaching job at Hogwarts. He wanted the DADA job but Professor Dippet told him he was too young. Then he went to work at Borgin and Burkes."

"Lord Voldemort worked at Borgin and Burkes?" James asked incredulously.

"The first memory was that of a House-Elf who worked for Hepzibah Smith. He was on business buying trinkets for the shop and she was apparently quite a collector. While he was there she showed him Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket. The equivalent of Gryffindor's sword." Hermione said.

"She showed those to Voldemort? Bad idea." Remus sighed.

"Two of the most ancient and powerful artifacts in one place." Sirius and James looked awed.

"Two days after the memory Hepzibah was found dead. Apparently the House-Elf, Hokey, had poisoned her. Both trinkets were gone and Voldemort had resigned from the shop."

"So he killed her, modified Hokey's memory like he did his uncle, and vanished." Sirius concluded. Hermione was pleased he had been paying attention.

"The next memory was Professor Dumbledore's. It took place ten years after that event. It was Tom Riddle asking for a job at Hogwarts again. He was denied again and no teacher has ever stayed more than one year since he didn't get it."

"He cursed the post?" Remus asked in astonishment. Hermione nodded.

"Dumbledore thought he was also after something else, but told Harry he would tell him once he had Slughorn's memory. Now I think it's time for bed. We can continue this and start our next year tomorrow. Hopefully we can be finished the day after and then we can plot how to end this." Hermione smiled. Everyone nodded. Professor Dumbledore returned to the school. Remus flooed back to his apartment and Sirius kissed Hermione on the cheek before leaving too.

"Night 'Mione." James called, heading up the stairs.

"Night James, night Lily." Hermione called back. She went to her room and changed into her pajamas quickly. Then she lay back on her bed, her head buzzing with everything left to tell. She would have to tell them that Dumbledore died. A single tear trickled down her cheek before she brushed it away and rolled over, falling fast asleep.

"I can't believe all of this." James told Lily as they lay in bed cuddling.

"I want to know what this Malfoy kid is planning." Lily sighed. "It's obviously not good, and if he is supposed to be killing Albus…" Her voice trailed off.

"He is a sixteen year old kid. He won't be able to kill the professor." James told her confidently. SHe tried to take comfort in his words and they both went to sleep.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 24: End of HPB

The next morning Hermione woke up to pouring rain. She got dressed and quietly went downstairs. Nobody else was up, so she decided to start making breakfast for everyone. She was almost done when James came down the stairs with Harry, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

"Morning 'Mione." James yawned.

"My 'nee." Harry gurgled. Hermione spun around in surprise. James was looking down at him in shock as well. He had hardly spoken since Hermione had arrived, preferring to gurgle and make random noises. Hermione beamed at him and ruffled his hair.

"Hey there Harry." She cooed. Then she returned to serving the breakfast, wiping away a stray tear. She had just set James' plate down when Lily came into the kitchen.

"Morning Hermione." Lily smiled and sat down. "You made breakfast? Thanks."

"Yeah. I figured you have been making food for us since I arrived and deserved a break." Hermione smiled at her and set down a plate of food in front of her. Just then Sirius and Remus arrived together, sitting down in the remaining seats.

Once everyone had eaten, they all traipsed into the front room and sat down, Harry on James' knee. They waited a few more minutes and then all three professors came through the fireplace. Sirius and Remus sat on the floor to make room for them.

"Right, hopefully we will be done tomorrow. So, Harry spent a long time trying to work out how to ask Slughorn for the memory he needed. One afternoon we got a report back from Kreacher and Dobby that Malfoy was spending a lot of time in the Room of Requirement with various different guards outside."

"Why would he need lots of guards? What's wrong with Crabbe and Goyle?" James asked.

"It would look suspicious if the same two were hanging around there all the time." Remus pointed out.

"Well, Harry suspected that he was only using Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy just stole some polyjuice potion from the dungeons. They were all the girls hovering in the corridor."

"He has his mates transforming into girls?" Sirius laughed.

"If they were girls, could they not have given that cursed necklace to the Gryffindor chaser? Malfoy may have been at the castle but that doesn't mean Crabbe and Goyle were." Lily said slowly. Everyone turned to her looking horrified.

"If only people believed Harry." James sighed.

"Harry spent a lot of time trying to get into the room without success. He had no success with Slughorn either. During one attempt to get into the room, Harry met Tonks. She said she needed a word with Professor Dumbledore. Then we had a note from Hagrid saying Aragog had died and he wanted to give it a funeral."

"That thing almost killed Harry and he wants you to go to a funeral for it?" SIrius asked incredulously. Hermione nodded.

"Hagrid is insane." James sounded awed.

"While discussing it, we turned back to Slughorn and Ron had the idea to use Felix Felicis."

"Genius." Lily smiled.

"That's a great idea." Remus nodded.

"Ron and I had our apparition tests that afternoon so there were only a couple of people in the potions lesson. Harry tried once again but he still failed, so he decide to use the potion."

"Did you pass?" Sirius asked.

"I did. Ron left half an eyebrow behind."

"That's so unfair. Half an eyebrow?" James groaned.

"Harry took the potion and decided to go to the funeral for Aragog."

"What? But he needs Slughorn's memory?" Lily looked confused.

"Yeah. Apparently Felix told him he needed to go to Hagrid's. On the way down he went the long way through the greenhouses. There he saw Slughorn with Professor Sprout. Once they were finished talking, Harry pulled off his invisibility cloak and spoke to Slughorn. He told him about the funeral and Slughorn decided he would come as well. He wanted some acromantula venom."

"Convenient." Sirius smirked.

"Slughorn grabbed a couple of bottles of mead, he had them tested, and joined them for the funeral. He got a couple of bottles of venom and then said some nice words as they buried him. Both Hagrid and Slughorn got very drunk and Harry managed to convince Slughorn to give him the memory."

"Nicely done Harry." Remus smiled.

"He went back to the castle and gave it straight to professor Dumbledore. It showed Tom RIddle asking Slughorn about horcruxes. He explained that a horcrux was an object in which a person concealed part of their soul." Everybody was watching Hermione, open mouthed. "It means that you split your soul by killing someone and then trap part of it inside an object. That way if your body is destroyed, you still live."

"So that's why he came back when he attacked us. My protection around Harry destroyed his body but another piece of his soul was somewhere else?" Lily asked. Hermione nodded.

"Slughorn said that you must kill and then use a spell, which Slughorn didn't know to encase the part of the soul. Riddle wanted to know about splitting the soul more than once."

"He made more than one horcrux?" Sirius asked, looking revolted.

"He wanted to make seven." She sighed.

"Seven? He wanted to rip his soul into seven pieces?" Remus gaped.

"He has killed more than enough people to do so. His soul is in more than seven pieces. He killed three family members by the time he even asked this question of Slughorn." Hermione reminded them.

"I knew he was evil, but this…" McGonagall said, her hands over her mouth.

"Once they had seen the memory, Professor Dumbledore explained that the diary from Harry's second year was a horcrux. As was the Gaunt ring that Professor Dumbledore had. They thought he had made seven in total."

"He actually made seven?" Remus asked.

"Well, the diary and the ring. Dumbledore thought he had made Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket horcruxes. As he had shown Harry through his memories, Voldemort collected only valuable objects and was most likely to use those as Horcruxes. He didn't know if Voldemort found anything of Ravenclaw's and was certain the sword of Gryffindor wasn't a horcrux."

"I should hope not." James cried, disgusted.

"Professor Dumbledore also thought he had made Nagini, his snake, into a horcrux."

"Is it not dangerous to make another living creature a horcrux?" Sirius asked.

"It would be Mr Black." Dumbledore answered.

"So, if he did make seven...the locket, the cup, the diary, the snake, the ring, maybe something of Ravenclaw's. That's only six." Remus summarised.

"The other piece of his soul remains in his body." Dumbledore said.

"Harry asked if Dumbledore was searching for horcruxes when he left the school. He wanted to go with him if he found another one."

"No Harry. That's way too dangerous." Lily cried.

"He would be with professor Dumbledore." James argued.

"The professor agreed he could go." Hermione informed them.

"Professor!" Remus scowled.

"Albus!" McGonagall scolded at the same time. "He's just a boy. A boy who has been through too much already."

"Harry told me and Ron the next day what had happened. Thankfully Ron had broken up with Lavender, she really was annoying. Ginny and Dean had broken up too, so Harry was happy."

"Yeah, go Harry." James grinned.

"One day, Harry heard Malfoy crying in a bathroom and turned to confront him. Malfoy tried to use the cruciatus curse on Harry,"

"He did what?" James roared.

"But Harry used Sectumsempra."

"No!" Lily gasped. "He shouldn't ever use that spell. How does he even know it?"

"He has Snape's potions book. He read it there. Snape came in and mostly fixed Malfoy."

"Of course he did. He made that damn spell up." Sirius scowled.

"Snape took Malfoy to the hospital wing and then came back. He used Legilimency to see what book Harry learnt the spell from."

"Of course. He recognised it and knew it had to have come from his own potions book." Lily said bitterly.

"He sent Harry to go and fetch all his school books. Harry borrowed Ron's to give to Snape and hid his own copy in the room of requirement."

"Good thinking." Remus said.

"Snape gave him detention every Saturday until end of term."

"Oh because he got in trouble when he use that spell on me." James growled sarcastically.

"He used that spell on you? When?" Lily asked him.

"Seventh year. As soon as he found out you were going out with me. He caught me from behind on the way back from Quidditch practise." James said.

"That's why you were in the hospital wing. You told me Sirius had been messing around?"

"I knew you wouldn't believe that he started it. I didn't want a argument with you about him." James sighed. Lily took his hand sadly.

"Harry had to miss the last game of the season."

"NOOO!" James cried.

"He was sorting out old files of detentions. He made Harry sort out all the ones with James' and Sirius' detentions."

"OF course he did." Sirius growled angrily. "And I didn't think I could like that git any less."

"When he got back to the common room it was in full celebration. Gryffindor had won the cup and as soon as he walked in Ginny ran over and kissed him."

"Woooooooo!" James and Sirius chanted, jumping up and down in the middle of the room.

"Calm down." Lily called, but she too had a smile on her face. Once they had calmed down enough to return to their seats, James pulled Harry back onto his lap and began celebrating with him.

"Anyway, so soon after ,Harry got a note saying professor Dumbledore wanted to see him. He found that the professor had found another horcrux. On the way he ran into Professor Trelawney who revealed that the Death eater who had told the prophecy to Voldemort was Severus Snape." There was a stunned silence.

"He sent Voldemort after Lily and James?" Sirius choked out.

"I'm going to kill him." James whispered.

"Snape didn't know that the prophecy meant Harry. It could also have meant Neville. Voldemort just chose to go after Lily and James instead of Frank and Alice. He also only overheard the first part."

"I'm still going to kill him." James uttered. Lily looked ready to help him, although a tear was trickling down her face.

"Back to the horcrux. Dumbledore agreed to take Harry provided Harry promised to obey him without hesitation. Which he did only reluctantly. He ran to get his invisibility cloak, which is when he told me and Ron what was going on. Now he thought Malfoy was going to try something that evening. Professor Trelawney had heard a boy celebrating in the room of requirement. He gave me and Ron the map and what was left of the Felix Felicis, telling us to keep an eye out."

"But, I know you're really skilled, but you're still only kids." Sirius said.

"Well we couldn't exactly tell a teacher. Nobody would believe us or else they would think Dumbledore's protection would be enough. Anyway, Harry and Dumbledore apparated to a horrible piece of rock by the sea. They made their way to a cave and had to swim part of the way. The place required blood to enter."

"That's gross." Lily wrinkled her nose. Everybody was watching Hermione with rapt attention, both eager to hear and afraid of what might happen.

"Inside was a gigantic lake. Harry did try summoning the horcrux but nothing happened except something jumped out of the lake. Dumbledore found a boat that had been magically hidden and they sailed to the middle of the lake where there was an island. Harry saw a body in the lake."

"It's guarded by Inferi!" Sirius exclaimed, looking worried and disgusted. Hermione nodded.

"Oh no." Lily whimpered, hiding her face in James' shoulder.

"Don't worry Lils. He is with Dumbledore. Harry will be just fine." He comforted her. Dumbledore beamed at him.

"On the island they saw a basin with a potion in it. The only way to get rid of it was to drink the potion."

"Not a good idea." Remus moaned. "But it has to be done."

"Yes. Professor Dumbledore drank the potion. I'm not sure exactly what it did. Harry said it made him relieve his worst memories. Kind of like a dementor I think."

Dumbledore had closed his eyes a grimace on his face as if reliving it now.

"Once it was all done, Harry grabbed the locket. The professor was asking for water, but Harry couldn't conjure any. Every time he did it disappeared."

"Meaning he has to use the , no, no." Sirius mumbled.

"As soon as he did the inferi started attacking. Thankfully professor Dumbledore used fire to get rid of them and they made it out of the cave, but the professor was really weak. Harry managed to apparate both of them back to Hogsmeade."

"Oh thank goodness they made it out ok. Well, alive." Remus breathed a sigh of relief.

"They borrowed broomsticks from Madam Rosmerta as the Dark Mark was hanging over Hogwarts."

"Oh god. Not now. This can't be happening." Lily was muttering frantically.

"How did Death Eaters get into Hogwarts." McGonagall gasped. Flitwick and Dumbledore were exchanging worried glances.

"They got to the astronomy tower, Harry had his cloak on, and Dumbledore asked him to fetch Snape. He was about to go when Malfoy came in. He disarmed the professor as Dumbledore froze Harry with a non-verbal spell."

"But Harry could have gone to get help!" Sirius cried.

"Why would use freeze him?" Lily asked frantically.

"Malfoy admitted he had been repairing the vanishing cabinet in the room of requirement. It had a counterpart in Borgin and Burkes, which is how the Death Eaters got in. Madam Rosmerta was under the imperius curse and gave the necklace to Katie. It was her who alerted Malfoy to the fact Dumbledore had left the school as they had to go to Hogsmeade to apparate away."

"The little slimeball is smarter than he looks." Sirius spat.

"Professor Dumbledore offered to hide Malfoy from Voldemort and Malfoy was lowering his wand when other Death Eaters arrived. The Carrows, Greyback,"

Remus gave a wolfish snarl at his name.

"And Bellatrix." Hermione spat out the last name. Everyone scowled. "Then Snape arrived." Hermione was struggling now. Tears were threatening to spill over. Sirius noticed and pulled her off the couch and into his lap, stroking her hair softly. "He...he." Hermione started sobbing. "Snape killed Dumbledore." There was a stunned silence. Lily quickly picked up Harry and left the room with him as the marauders and McGonagall started shouting expletives and threats.

"That lying little scumbag." James scowled

"Dumbledore trusted him!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Snape is going to die." Remus said in a quietly, carefully controlled voice.

"Oh, Albus." McGonagall sniffed. Dumbledore patted her arm, muttering,

"It hasn't happened yet Minerva." Lily came back in without Harry, tears on her cheeks. Sirius was still holding Hermione in his lap, and James pulled Lily to him.

"We are going to fix this. The first Death Eater I take out is going to be Snivellus." Sirius said. Hermione took a few minutes to calm down and the called for everyone to listen again.

"I just want to get this over with." She said. Everyone nodded. "Well, the freezing charm on Harry broke so he started chasing after the Death Eaters. He put a full body bind on Greyback and stunned one of the Carrows. Then he took off after Snape. By the time he caught up, they were already at Hagrid's. They set his hut on fire and Bellatrix used the cruciatus curse on Harry while he was duelling Snape."

"I really am going to kill my cousin too." Sirius said mildly.

"Snape and Malfoy managed to disapparate from outside the grounds. Harry helped Hagrid put out the fire on his house. Harry told Hagrid what had happened and why Snape was with the Death Eaters. Hagrid took him back up to the castle. People were coming out of the castle and gathering by Dumbledore. He had fallen off the astronomy tower when the spell hit." Hermione mumbled the last bit.

Sirius hugged her a bit tighter, murmuring comforting words in her ear.

"Harry opened the locket and saw a note. The locket was a fake. It said that someone had found the horcrux already and planned to destroy it. It was signed R A B."

"No." Sirius' eyes went wide with shock.

"What?" James asked him anxiously.

"Those are my brother's initials." Sirius whispered.

"He did something good." James smiled slightly.

"He switched back." Sirius grinned to himself. "We just have to keep him alive this time."

"We will." Hermione promised him. "The order gathered in the hospital wing. Bill Weasley had been attacked by Greyback."

"No!" Lily and Remus cried together.

"It wasn't a full moon so he didn't turn into a werewolf. He just had bad scars and a few wolfish tendencies." Hermione assured them. "Nobody on our side had been killed in the fight below. Harry had to tell them what happened."

"Why is it always Harry who has to witness the worst events." James groaned. "If people had just believed him sooner, this may never have happened." He added angrily.

"Yeah, I want to know just why you trusted Snape so much." Remus added, Looking at Dumbledore.

"I do not know. As far as I am aware, Severus is a Death Eater. I would not have trusted him without some solid proof." Dumbledore said.

"Yeah. Some good it did." Sirius said sarcastically.

"Molly and Arthur Weasley arrived then as well. Harry explained how the Death Eaters got in. Ron and I felt impossibly guilty for not believing Harry when he said Malfoy was up to something in there." Hermione hung her head.

"'Mione, not even the order believed him. It's not your fault. Nobody expected a sixteen year old kid to get even half as close as he did." Sirius assured her.

"Yeah. You're still one of the best witches I know." James smiled at her.

"Thanks guys." She gave them a watery smile. "Ron explained that he, Ginny and Neville went to keep watch on the room of requirement. Malfoy used Peruvian instant darkness powder to get passed them. By the time they got out of it, they found some members of the Order and told them what had happened."

"At least they found someone quickly It probably saved a few people's lives." McGonagall said.

"Meanwhile, Luna and I had been keeping tabs on professor Snape as Harry instructed. Around midnight Professor Flitwick came running down shouting about Death Eaters and fetching Snape."

Flitwick held his head in his hands. "I actually fetched him." He muttered miserably.

"It's not your fault Filius." Dumbledore assured him.

"All of us trusted Snape. We were probably pleased he was coming to help." McGonagall told him.

"Well Luna and I heard a thump and Snape came hurling out saying the Professor had fainted. So we went to take care of him and let Snape go."

"Good. If you had tried to stop him he would probably have cursed you." Remus told her.

"Just then, Molly, Arthur and Fleur arrived. Fleur declared that she didn't care about Bill even if he became a werewolf, she still wanted to marry him. Tonks then turned to Remus and used Bill and Fleur as an example, saying she didn't care if he was a werewolf."

"Back up. Back up. My little cousin has a crush on Remus?" Sirius asked in astonishment. Remus simply stared at Hermione as if he had never seen her before.

"Bit young for you isn't she Moony?" James asked with a grin.

"Remus did try to argue with her, but you loved her Remus. You didn't need to push her away." Hermione told him. "She didn't care you were a werewolf. Or that you were older, or anything. She loved all of you."

"But…" Remus seemed to have lost the ability to speak. Sirius was eyeing him through narrowed eyes.

"No making a move for a long time yet Mr. She is way too young at the moment." Remus just glared at him. Hermione hit Sirius over the back of the head.

"Be nice. He obviously isn't going to start a relationship with her just because I said it happened in the future. They aren't the same people right now." She pointed out.

"Oh. Yeah, well. I'm just saying." Sirius muttered.

"Well, we had an end of term feast and all lessons suspended, exams postponed. A lot of students stayed for the funeral. The professor was buried at Hogwarts. The Minister tried once again to get Harry on his side and tell him what Dumbledore had been up to. He broke it off with Ginny."

"He what? Why would he do that?" James asked angrily.

"Harry wasn't going to Hogwarts for his seventh year. Me, Harry and Ron were going Horcrux searching. Harry didn't want news of him and Ginny to reach Voldemort and him try to use Ginny against Harry." Hermione explained.

"You three are going to search for bits of Voldemort's soul, which could be anywhere, alone?!" Lily asked, looking incredulous. Hermione nodded.

"Are you insane? At least take someone with you." James said.

"The less people that knew, the better. We weren't going straight away. We had to wait for Harry to turn seventeen. We also wanted to go to Bill and Fleur's wedding so we were going to spend some time at the Burrow first. Preparing.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 25: Deathly Hallows.

Everyone was staring, wide-eyed at Hermione as if she had grown a third head. Nobody yet wanted to even think about the possibility of their baby Harry and his friends running around the country alone looking for bits of Voldemort.

"I'm guessing you didn't tell anybody you were going either. But people at Hogwarts would notice you were missing." Lily pointed out.

"Well, Harry couldn't exactly go back, it was too dangerous for him to be out in the open. With Professor Dumbledore dead, Voldemort could move into the open." Hermione told them, sniffling at the mention of her headmaster's death. "And I couldn't go back because I'm muggleborn. They started properly rounding up muggle-borns that year. Ron did have to tell his dad and brothers. They helped him transfigure the ghoul in the attic of their house so it looked like he had spattergroit."

"Impressive." James whistled.

"Harry did have to go back to Privet Drive to begin with. The plan was to transport him to the Burrow just before his seventeenth which is when the protective charm would break. While he was there he unpacked his trunk and sorted out all the things he would need to take on our journey. He did take the Map, cloak and other bits and pieces. There was an article in the paper about Rita Skeeter's new book the Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore."

"She what?" McGonagall cried. Dumbledore looked pensive and the young adults all looked outraged.

"That's ridiculous." Lily snorted.

"How can she? Voldemort is about and moving openly, and she is busy slandering the only man he ever feared." Remus growled. Dumbledore looked touched.

"Harry wasn't much happier about it." Hermione assured them. "While emptying his trunk, Harry found a shard of the mirror Sirius had given him. He thought he saw an eye in it, and then dismissed it as imagination."

"An eye? That's impossible. Unless Remus found the mirror or something." Sirius said.

"The plan to move Harry was that the Dursleys would be taken to a safe place at exactly the same time Harry was transported to a safe house himself. Thus the charm would break at a moment of the order's choosing."

"More than they deserve." James muttered bitterly, too quietly for Lily to hear.

"Vernon had been changing his mind about accepting wizarding help every hour or so, packing and unpacking the car. Harry had to explain yet again exactly why they needed protection. In the end, Dudley wanted to take the help so his parents obviously would go with him."

"Wow. Even Dudley has more sense than his parents." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"As they were leaving, Dudley admitted to thinking Harry wasn't a waste of space and they parted on reasonable terms. Petunia and Vernon merely said goodbye and nothing more. Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle were taking them to their safe place."

"I don't envy them." Sirius whispered to James and Remus. They smirked.

"Originally the plan to remove Harry was to have Mad-eye come and take him by side-along apparition. Then Voldemort infiltrated the ministry and so all magical ways of transportation were being watched. Since Harry was still under age he had the trace on him so no one could use magic around him without the Ministry knowing."

"Damn." James swore.

"The only way out would be to fly." Remus sighed. "And leave Harry out in the open."

"Very bad idea." Lily groaned. "But still the only way. Nothing is easy with you is it?" She demanded on baby Harry in exasperation. He just gurgled and clapped his hands.

"Then everyone arrived. Tonks told Harry that her and Remus had gotten married, although it was a quiet affair."

"Go Moony." James wolf whistled. Remus looked stunned.

"She could do worse." Sirius said with a shrug. James snickered.

"They planned to have six other people take Polyjuice potion and transform into Harry. Each Harry would have a protector and each pair would make their way to a different safe house which had been given every protection possible."

"Nice plan." James nodded approvingly.

"Harry was assigned to Hagrid who was going to be taking Sirius' motorcycle."

"Oh yeah!" Sirius beamed. "I can't wait to actually get the thing." Lily and the teachers frowned slightly.

"I was with Kingsley by Thestral and Ron went with Tonks by broom."

"You've all got great protectors. Who were the others with you?" Remus asked.

"Remus you were protecting George Weasley. Mr Weasley was with Fred. Bill was protecting Fleur, they went on a Thestral too. Mundungus was with Mad-eye."

"Dung was one of those ones pretending to be Harry? Well that's a disaster waiting to happen." James groaned.

"Wasn't he the one who left Harry unprotected to go and buy stolen cauldrons just before Harry met those Dementors?" Lily asked in worry. Hermione nodded. They all narrowed their eyes.

"As we took off we were surrounded by Death Eaters. Someone had leaked the plan, well part of it, they weren't expecting so many Harrys. Hedwig got killed and he lost his firebolt."

"NO! Not poor Hedwig." James moaned.

"That poor owl." Lily cried.

"Harry will be devastated." Sirius sighed.

"He was. The Death Eaters split up to chase all of us. Kingsley and I made it to our safe place ok. We were chased plenty but then they disappeared so we got there alive."

"Good." Sirius breathed a sigh of relief.

"Two down. Twelve more people to worry about." McGonagall groaned, burying her face in her hands. This tale has aged me twenty years and it's not even at the worst part yet."

"Ooh, don't say that." Lily whimpered, clutching baby Harry to her tighter.

"Harry and Hagrid were going ok until Harry tried to disarm Stan Shunpike instead of stunning him."

"Why would that be a problem?" James asked.

"Because Harry always tries to disarm. In that graveyard he tried to disarm Voldemort. Not exactly a normal move and nobody but Harry would try it. So the Death Eaters must work out that it's him." Remus sighed. James and Lily paled.

"Voldemort himself came after them, but Harry's wand performed some magic without Harry being aware of doing it and broke the wand Voldemort was using. It wasn't his own, he had borrowed someone else's because of the twin cores. That held him off long enough to get past the protective barriers. Hagrid had fallen off the bike."

"Oh no! Not Hagrid too!" Sirius shouted.

"He was fine. They had been going to Tonks' parents who fixed them both up. They then used a portkey to get to the Burrow."

"Two more down." Flitwick breathed.

"Harry was the first back. Harry had to explain to Mrs Weasley what had happened." The Marauders all winced. "Then Remus and George arrived. George was unconscious because Snape had used Sectumsempra and cursed his ear off."

"That…" James yelled, unable to think of a curse bad enough to describe Snape. Lily was shell shocked. She knew shouldn't be. He had killed Dumbledore after all. What had happened to her friend? A sob escaped her and James pulled her into a hug.

"Remus was ok though?" Sirius asked urgently. Hermione nodded. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

"Remus made sure Harry was the real Harry and then both of them explained what had happened to them. Mrs Weasley was tending to George. Then Kingsley and I arrived. Next back were Mr Weasley and Fred.. George woke up and began making awful jokes about it. Then Ron and Tonks made it back."

Remus felt a little tension ease out of him.

"They were late because they had missed the portkey, not because anything bad happened." Hermione assured Remus. "Then Bill and Fleur finally got back. They told us that Voldemort had gone straight after Mad-eye. Dung had disapparated, proving he wasn't the real Harry, and Mad-eye was killed."

There was silence. How many more people they knew had to die before the monster finally died? Nobody said a word so Hermione continued.

"Everybody shared their stories and then Remus went with Bill to get Mad-eye's body. Harry wanted to leave as well so nobody else would get hurt,"

"No Harry. You have to stay there." Lily pleaded, as if he could hear her.

"We convinced him to stay. He went upstairs on his own and had a vision of Voldemort torturing Ollivander. He was trying to make him explain what had happened with Harry's wand. He had thought that using a wand without a twin core would be enough but Harry's wand broke Lucius Malfoy's anyway."

"He got Ollivander?" James asked incredulously. Dumbledore looked furious.

"Harry explained what he had seen, but I told him to try and block it out. We spent the next few days preparing for Bill and Fleur's wedding. Mrs Weasley had been trying to get me andRon to tell her what we would be doing. We both hadn't told her. Then she questioned Harry and tried to convince him not to go."

"Pointless, but I appreciate her effort." Lily sighed.

"She decided that if she could keep us ridiculously busy with wedding chores, then we couldn't get together and make plans." Hermione rolled her eyes affectionately. The boys all snickered.

"We did finally get some time together. I was busy working out what books to take with me. I had put an undetectable extension charm on my bag so I could take as many as necessary. In preparation I had modified my parents memories so they had a new name and no daughter." Hermione's voice trailed off.

"Oh 'Mione." Sirius sighed, holding her close and stroking her hair. She steeled herself and carried on.

"Ron then showed us the Ghoul. Then we had to discuss how to actually destroy Horcruxes. I had summoned some books from Dumbledore's study." She threw the professor in question an apologetic half smile.

"Don't worry Miss Granger. It's for a good cause." He smiled gently down at her. She nodded.

"The books said that you have to destroy the object beyond magical repair. Harry had destroyed the diary with basilisk venom, but we didn't exactly have any of that handy. The Professor had never mentioned how he destroyed the Gaunt ring."

"Albus!" McGonagall groaned.

"Then Mrs Weasley came in and assigned us more chores. Fleur's family were coming to stay the day after. They were actually quite nice. Then it was Harry's seventeenth."

"Awww. My little boy is all grown up." Lily cooed to the baby. James looked at them both with both love and sadness. They should be there to celebrate his coming of age. It was great he had such wonderful friends, but it should still be him and Lily with him for that day.

"Mrs Weasley made a great dinner. Remus and Tonks came, along with Hagrid."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Remus vowed, tickling the baby in Lily's arms.

"Well, Mr Weasley sent a patronus ahead to say he was bringing the Minister home. Remus and Tonks had to leave." James and Sirius growled.

"Stupid, prejudice, pathetic…" The hissed in unison. Remus smiled fondly at his closest friends.

"Scrimgeour wanted to talk to Harry, Ron and myself. The will of Professor Dumbledore had only just been released. The Ministry had kept it."

"They had no right!" McGonagall said in outrage. "They can only keep the objects in his will if they suspect dark objects will be handed down."

"Minerva, enough." Dumbledore said gently, placing his hand on her arm. She subsided, glowering at the floor.

"He left Ron his Deluminator." Everyone looked startled. "To me, he left his copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard." Dumbledore looked up sharply. He gripped his wand and thought of his lifelong dream. To unite the Hallows. "He left Harry the snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match, and Gryffindor's sword."

"You left him a sword?" Everybody asked in astonishment.

"You left him his own snitch?" James asked excitedly.

"Why?" Lily asked, looking confused.

"The sword was the one Harry killed the basilisk with. It must be coated with Basilisk venom and I have left it to him to aid his destruction of Horcruxes." Dumbledore explained. Everyone nodded.

"The Ministry wouldn't give it to Harry, claiming it wasn't Dumbledore's to give."

"You would think the Ministry want to help Voldemort." James spluttered in disgust.

"They wouldn't know what it was for. And leaving a sword, let alone one of the famous artifacts of the founder's, is a bit strange." Lily pointed out.

"What about the snitch?" Sirius asked.

"It was the one Harry caught in his mouth. Snitches have flesh memories and so would remember Harry." James put in before Hermione could explain. Everyone turned to stare at him. "What? I remember all my son's Quidditch triumphs." He grinned.

"Scrimgeour thought Dumbledore would have hidden a small object in the snitch, but nothing happened when Harry touched it."

"Good or he would have seen the secret too." Sirius said.

"We refused to tell him anything and he left in a temper. We then explained to the Weasley's what had happened. That night we discussed everything that Scrimgeour had said and examined the things we had been left. Harry tried putting the snitch in his mouth and wording appeared on it. '_I open at the close_'."

"What on earth does that mean?" James asked. Dumbledore gasped sharply and everyone turned to look at him.

"I think I must have put the resurrection stone in the snitch." He explained.

"From that story in Beedle's book?" SIrius asked, eyebrow raised. Dumbledore nodded. "But that's just a story. A kid's fairy tale." He scoffed.

"It is not Mr Black." Dumbledore said. All three objects do exist. The Cloak, I have come to believe, is in this very house."

"My Cloak?" James gasped. Dumbledore nodded.

"I must suspect so in the future too, which is why I would ask to borrow it, to confirm."

"The day of the wedding arrived." Hermione continued, when nobody spoke. "Harry was to take Polyjuice potion and be disguised as a muggle and introduced as a distant Weasley. We all helped guests to their seats. It was a really beautiful wedding. The party afterwards was fun too. I danced with Ron and the twins." Sirius did his best not to scowl. "Harry spoke briefly to Krum who was a guest of Fleur's."

"Anything interesting to say?" James asked eagerly, slightly jealous his son got to meet and be on good terms with such a talented Quidditch star.

"Well Harry had been having dreams about Gregorovitch and that Voldemort was hunting him. He realised that he was a wand maker and had made Krum's wand."

"But if he has Ollivander, why does he need someone else?" Sirius asked. Everybody shrugged.

"Then he had a conversation with Elphias Doge." Dumbledore now smiled fondly. "They had a conversation with Ron's aunt Muriel about Skeeter's book and what it revealed about the Professor's younger years and family." Dumbledore's smile vanished immediately. He buried his face in his hands. The last thing he wanted was the public to find out what he had done in his youth.

"Evil woman. Probably a whole bunch of made up lies." James cried hotly. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Just then Kingsley's patronus burst into the pavilion and announced Scrimgeour was dead and the Ministry had fallen."

"Oh god." Lily moaned.

"Let's take a break." Hermione announced. Everyone agreed, albeit reluctantly.


	27. Chapter 27

(A/N: A second update in one day and a super long chapter as a treat for making you guys wait so long for an update)

Chapter 26: Breaking into the Ministry

Hermione got out of Sirius' lap as Sirius took control of Harry and began making puffs of multi coloured smoke rings with his wand, which the baby kept trying to grab with his chubby fists. Lily was in the kitchen making snacks. Breakfast hadn't been that long ago but James and Sirius were always hungry. Cooking also made her feel better, giving her something to focus on instead of this dratted future. Her little baby was going on the run with most of the Ministry after him with only two seventeen year olds with him.

"Well, I must be getting to the Ministry. It is Mr Pettigrew's trial tomorrow afternoon and I must modify his memory." Dumbledore announced.

"Modify his memory?" Remus asked.

"Yes Mr Lupin. I shall make him think the Death Eaters helped him become an animagus. Although I recommend Mr Black and Mr Potter get registered soon." He told them. Sirius and James nodded. Hermione was sat on the couch next to Remus and was telling him more about Tonks. Remus also reminded her about the Wolfsbane potion and she started, glancing at him in horror.

"Of course. I can't believe I forgot Remus. I'm so sorry. I brought the recipe with me but I'm not sure I have the skill to make such a difficult potion."

"Of course you can 'Mione." Sirius assured her. "You can always try. Lily loves potions and I think she has a little potions lab around here somewhere." James nodded.

"I can show you if you like." James offered. Hermione nodded eagerly and the two rose together. James led her into the kitchen and explained to Lily what he was doing. She beamed at Hermione and James opened the secret door that led to the basement. He led her into a brightly lit room where a cauldron was simmering on a table in the middle. Three walls were covered with shelves full of potion ingredients. The last wall was partially covered with shelves that were full of potion books, one of which lay open on the table. Hermione walked over and recognised it as Moste Potente Potions.

"It's incredible." Hermione breathed. "I could easily work in here."

"If you let me know what ingredients you need that aren't in here, I can get hold of them easily enough. As a muggle-born, even an unknown one, it's dangerous for you to go anywhere unaccompanied. Sirius and I are labelled blood traitors but our pure-blood status still carries a little weight." She nodded. Then she withdrew her recipe from her huge pile of notes. James watched as Hermione walked about the shelves confirming what ingredients were there.

"Here." She said, scribbling on a spare bit or parchment and handing it to James. There are only a couple of ingredients you don't have an one or two more than need stocking up. This recipe makes an entire cauldron full of the stuff which should last a few months. Remus only needs to take a goblet full a day on the day before, day of and day after a full moon." James nodded.

"This is going to mean the world to him Hermione. There is no way Remus could afford such a potion and would probably refuse it if Sirius and I paid for it all the time. But if you can make it then he can't complain." Hermione smiled.

"You mind if I spend a little while in here, looking around. It takes a while to make so I should get acquainted with this as soon as possible so I can start."

"Of course." James replied and then he left. Hermione looked around and saw a spare cauldron in one corner and dragged it to the platform, next to whatever Lily was making. She gathered all the ingredients that were available and put them on the table next to the cauldron. Once Hermione was happy with the set-up she went back upstairs, closing the door behind her, which then melded into part of the kitchen again.

"It won't be ready in time for the upcoming full moon Remus but it should be ok for the one after, provided I do it correctly." Hermione announced.

"I will help you." Lily smiled.

"Thank you 'Mione. You have no idea what this means to me." Remus told her, his voice shaking with emotion. She simply smiled.

"James has gone to get the ingredients already." Lily informed them. They all nodded and started eating. Remus looked around, infinitely grateful to the headmaster for letting him go to school and getting the chance to meet such wonderful friends. He dreaded to think what his life would be like without them. He had grieved more deeply than the rest over hearing about the death of his old headmaster. Even more impossible, he had a wife. Someone who loved him despite the monster he was, besides his closest friends.

"Rem, Remmy, what do you think?" Sirius was waving his hand in front of Remus' face.

"What?" Remus asked, startled.

"I was giving you ideas about how best to murder Snape." Sirius said casually, still making puffs of smoke for the baby to catch.

"Oh. I'd settle for just ripping him to pieces." Remus replied conversationally. Lily frowned at them reproachfully.

"Come off it Lils. You can't seriously be defending him?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"No, of course not. But I hate the way you two can talk so casually about murder. No matter what awful things he has done to deserve it, you shouldn't be able to say things like that." She told them.

"Lily, this is war." Remus reminded her. If we don't kill them, they will kill us."

"That doesn't mean we have to take pleasure in killing them." She retorted.

"Lily is right." Flitwick said quietly. "To take pleasure in the death of others is evil." Remus and Sirius nodded, although Sirius still looked like he could make an exception for Snape.

"I know, but if I have to hear about even more of his cowardly, evil crap before this is over I may just go and find him anyway." Sirius growled. Then he broke off, crying "Ouch!" As baby Harry missed a smoke ring and grabbed a fistful of Sirius' hair. Remus and Lily chuckled as Sirius tried in vain to untangle himself.

"Go Harry." Remus cheered.

"No. Harry. Not the hair. Get off." Sirius moaned. "My poor hair." Harry gurgled and laughed.

"'adfoo' funny." He said.

"Funny am I? I'll show you funny." Sirius pretended to growl and tickled the baby, who squawked and let go of Sirius' hair, arms and feet flailing. Even Flitwick and McGonagall were smiling indulgently down at the pair. Just then James came flying out of the fireplace and landed in a heap on the floor.

"Really Prongs." Remus laughed, as James got up and brushed himself off. "How many times have you used Floo powder and you still can't land properly?" James scowled and then laughed when he caught sight of Sirius.

"What happened to your hair Padfoot?" He asked.

"Your son." Sirius scowled.

"Go Harry." James laughed giving his son a high five.

"Right, shall we continue?" Hermione asked.

"I suppose so." McGonagall sighed. "The sooner this is over, the better."

"Ok then. Well, once we heard Kingsley's message, Harry, Ron and I knew we needed to get out of there. Death eaters began apparating in and guests were running everywhere." The good mood disappeared quickly. "Harry and I found Ron and then I apparated us out of there."

"Good." Lily breathed a sigh of relief.

"I apparated us to a muggle street in London and led the boys down a side alley so we could change into muggle clothes. I had packed all the stuff we would need into my bag."

"Wow. I'm so glad Harry has you for a friend." James said in amazement.

"Me too." Everyone echoed. Hermione blushed slightly.

"Harry put the cloak on and we made our way to a cafe so we could talk. We needed a place to stay while we hunted for horcruxes."

"You didn't think of one before you left?" Lily groaned.

"We didn't exactly have a lot of planning time." Hermione reminded her.

"Oh. Right, forgot about that." She mumbled sheepishly.

"While we were talking, two Death eaters disguised at builders walked in. They sat down and ordered coffee same as us, but thankfully Harry was hidden under the cloak. He noticed them about to attack and managed to stun one of them while they attacked me and Ron. They managed to tie Ron up and make a table explode right behind Harry before I put a full body bind on the other one."

"How in Merlin's name did they find you so quickly?" Remus asked, aghast.

"I have no idea." Hermione confessed. "We put memory charms on both of them and fixed up the cafe as best we could. Harry wanted to hide in Grimmauld Place."

"Why on earth would you hide there?" Sirius asked in disgust. Harry laughed at the face he pulled.

"The Order had set up spells against Snape and it is a pretty well protected house." Hermione told him. We felt the tongue tying curse Mad-eye set up for Snape and set up camp. We checked the place and nobody was there."

"People have some sense then." Sirius grumbled, still making funny faces at Harry.

"We got a patronus from Mr Weasley saying everyone was safe but not to reply because they were being watched. Then Harry had another vision. Voldemort was using Draco Malfoy to torture the Death eaters we found at the cafe."

"That's sick. He may be a little slimeball but no kid should have to do that." James said, looking horrified. Lily was pale.

"Next morning, Harry woke before us and went exploring the house. At the very top he found Sirius' old room. In there he found a letter to Sirius from Lily, thanking him for Harry's first birthday present."

"What do I get him?" Sirius asked eagerly. It was only a couple of months until Harry's first birthday.

"I'm not telling." Then, looking down at her notes, she gasped. "Professor you need to warn the McKinnons. Voldemort himself is going to go after the entire family. It happens about a week before Harry's first birthday." She addressed this to Professor McGonagall. She nodded and made a note on a piece of parchment withdrawn from her robe pocket.

"I will let Albus know." She said grimly.

"The bottom of the letter was missing. There was also a photograph of Harry and James' legs chasing him. It had been ripped as well."

"Who would rip part of a letter and part of a photograph?" Sirius asked in confusion. "I wouldn't."

"I dunno Pads." James shrugged.

"Ron and I were frantic when we woke up and found Harry gone. We thought he might have gone off on his own to protect us. I was so relieved to find him in Sirius' room. We found that every room in the place had been searched, but we didn't know who by. As we left the room, we saw the door opposite with Sirius' brother's name on. Harry realised the initials were the same as those on the letter in the locket. He remembered that Regulus had been a Death eater. We searched the room, hoping to find the locket but no such luck."

"Damn. Do you think it's possible to save Reg now?" Sirius asked. "If he stole the locket and wants to destroy it then he must turn back to the good side. In the very end."

"I don't know Sirius. I don't know for sure when he discovered the locket." Hermione told him sadly. "Harry had the idea of summoning Kreacher to ask him if he knew anything. He told us that Mundungus had stolen the locket. He also mentioned how Regulus had become a Death eater at the age of sixteen. He had come home one day saying Voldemort needed a House Elf and Kreacher was being offered up."

"Of course." Sirius snorted. "He isn't much use for anything else."

"Voldemort made Kreacher drink the potion in the basin where he dumped the locket and then left him there to die. However Kreacher, being a House Elf, could apparate directly from the cave unlike wizards."

"Yet another example of how Voldemort's ignorance can lead to his downfall." James grinned.

"Kreacher returned to Regulus, who asked him to take him back to the cave. Regulus drank the potion and swapped the locket, telling Kreacher to leave and destroy the real locket. Regulus died." Sirius stifled a sob. He had never been on good terms with his younger brother, but he had never wished him dead. Now to find out that his brother had died trying to bring down Voldemort was like being given a spark of hope he had been wishing for since Regulus had been put in Slytherin and then having it put out straight away. He had not been able to reconcile with his brother. What if Reg was dead already? He had never bothered keeping tabs on him once he had left school.

"We will find him, ok Pads? He might be a good guy already. We can still save him. Protect him." James said, gripping Sirius' shoulder tightly. Sirius nodded glumly.

"Once Kreacher had told us the story, Harry asked him to find Mundungus and bring him to Grimmauld Place so we could find out what he had done with the locket. Harry then gave him the fake locket which made him incredibly grateful to Harry and a lot easier to live with."

"So, voluntarily give him so old heirloom and he loves you?" Sirius snorted, eyebrow raised.

"While he was gone, Death eaters showed up outside the house, watching the area. They seemed unable to get in so we were safe for now. Three days after he had gone, Remus showed up. Once we checked he was who he said he was we were delighted to see him." Hermione threw a quick smile over at Remus.

"I'm sure I was just as relieved to see you three safe and well." Remus smiled back.

"We told him about being found in the cafe and then he told us about getting everyone away from the wedding. The Prophet had printed that Harry was wanted for murdering Professor Dumbledore."

"What?" James cried in outrage.

"That's not it." Hermione told him. "A muggle-born register had been set up. When a child went to Hogwarts they had to declare their blood status. If you cannot prove you are related to a wizard then it was deemed you had stolen magic."

"That's bloody ridiculous." Sirius snorted.

"You can't steal magic." McGonagall said with a snarl.

"That's Death Eaters." Remus sighed.

"Once he finished telling us the depressing news Remus confessed that he wanted to come with us on our adventure."

"I'd feel so much better knowing Remus was with you." James sighed.

"But what about Tonks?" Lily asked.

"He claimed she was staying with her parents and was safe."

"That's no reason to leave her alone at a time like this." Sirius growled. Remus went pale.

"He then told us Tonks was expecting a baby." Hermione announced. Remus looked delighted for a split second and then went from pale to ashen. James and Sirius were grinning delightedly at each other.

"Congrats Moony." Sirius beamed, clapping him on the back.

"Awesome. Another Marauder baby." James grinned.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE PLAYING AT?!" Lily yelled.

"What's wrong Lils?" James asked in concern.

"You have a wife and are now expecting a child and you want to go off and abandon them on some adventure you might never return from?" She fumed.

"Crap, yeah! Why Remus? Why would you abandon your child like that?"James asked, eyes widening in realisation. He had been so overjoyed about finding out Remus had a child, he had almost forgotten what he was asking.

"I…" Remus began. "My kind don't breed." He hissed the word like it was poison. "What if it means my poor child is like me? I could make an innocent child suffer like I have. Even if he isn't. He will be shunned for life, the son of a werewolf." His face was full of self loathing.

"That does not give you a reason to abandon your child." James whispered in a deadly voice. "You must have seen how it has affected Harry, growing up without me and Lily. We died to protect him. I'd give anything to be with my son and you are just running away like a coward. You're better than that Moony." Remus' face was streaked with tears.

"Come on Moony. I saw the delight on your face when 'Mione said you have a son. You can't give up on him." Sirius told him quietly.

Remus buried his face in his hands. "He would still have Tonks. He doesn't need to see his disgrace of a father." He muttered.

"Listen to me." James said firmly, shaking Remus' shoulders. "You are not a disgrace. You are going to be a wonderful father. Any kid would be lucky to have you. The only reason he could ever have to be ashamed of you would be that you walked away."

"Remus." Hermione said softly. He looked over at her. "I met your child quite a few times after the war. He was a year old when I left, almost two and he showed no signs of being a werewolf." Remus blinked spastically.

"My child is ok?" He breathed, hardly daring to believe it. Hermione nodded, smiling kindly. His tear streaked face broke into a huge smile. After a few minutes, Hermione continued.

"Harry refused to allow Remus to come with us, called him a coward and provoked him. Remus stormed out."

"See? Even Harry knows you were being an idiot." James told Remus with a weak grin.

"Then Kreacher came back with Dung. We disarmed him and found out that he had given the locket away to Umbridge."

"Oh man. Not that bitch again." Sirius groaned.

"Mr Black mind your language." McGonagall scolded, although she did feel that description was perfectly accurate.

"We spent weeks keeping tabs on the Ministry, stealing newspapers and compiling everything we knew about the Ministry lay out."

"You are going to sneak into the Ministry headquarters? The three most wanted people in Britain?" Remus asked weakly.

"We had no choice. Umbridge had the locket and she worked there."

"Give me strength." Lily muttered.

"On 1st September we found that Snape had been made headmaster of Hogwarts."

"No freaking way!" James yelled, making Harry jump and then cry. He quickly pulled his son into a hug and tried to calm him down, while looking murderous.

"We have to take orders from _him_?" McGonagall asked in disgust. Hermione nodded.

"Two Death eaters were also appointed at DADA and Muggle Studies professors. When Harry told us the news, I ran upstairs to get the portrait of Phineas Nigellus and hid him in my bag so Snape couldn't use his portrait to spy on us."

"Good thinking." Sirius smiled.

"Then Harry suddenly decided we should do the break in the next day. He claimed that we had planned for weeks and we could learn nothing more that would help us. And the longer we waited, the longer this would go on."

"I guess he has a point. Although I wish you didn't have to do this at all." Flitwick muttered.

"Don't we all." James agreed.

"Ron and I agreed reluctantly. We finalised any plans and made sure to get some sleep. Next morning, we got up early and got into position. We knew a particular ministry witch always arrived at the same time every morning. When she arrived, I stunned her from under the cloak and we hid the body. I used her hairs for some polyjuice potion and found out her name. Next a man from Magical Maintenance arrived. As Mafalda Hopkirk, I offered him a sweet, one of Fred and George's Puking Pastilles. He had to go to St Mungo's to be fixed and Ron transformed into him."

"This is very impressive. And well thought out." McGonagall said in admiration.

"Soon after, we found a wizard for Harry to transform into, having sent him home with a nosebleed that wouldn't stop."

"I love those twins." James grinned.

"We got into the Ministry just fine. Then a Death Eater came up and requested Ron go and fix his office which was raining. So we lost him and then Umbridge herself found us and took me off to some trials of muggleborns, leaving us all separated."

"Oh no." Sirius groaned.

"I went with Umbridge to the courtrooms where they were pretending to hold trials and really just sentencing muggle-borns to Azkaban, regardless of what they said. Meanwhile, Harry went snooping."

"We will make a marauder of him yet." Sirius grinned. Lily rolled her eyes, but secretly thinking the marauders skills would be a massive help to her son in this situation.

"He managed to find Umbridge's office, used a couple of Fred and George's inventions to cause a distraction and then used the cloak to sneak in. He found a bunch of files, one of which was Mr Weasley's. It labelled him a blood traitor and being tracked. It also mentioned Harry as undesirable number 1. On the way to meet me he met up with Ron and then Mr Weasley. He managed to tell Mr Weasley that he was being tracked, but because of who Harry was impersonating he took it as a threat rather than a warning."

"Oh dear. At least it will make him more aware anyway." Lily said, wringing her hands together.

"Harry managed to make it into the courtrooms and find me. He then stunned Umbridge and Yaxley, grabbed the locket and we made a run for it. We managed to help some of the muggle-borns out and we met up with Ron in the atrium. By then the alarm had been raised. Many muggle-borns got away but Yaxley caught us as we jumped into the fireplace. We accidentally took him to just outside Grimmauld Place, I managed to shake him off and disapparate again but Ron got splinched."

Remus flinched and rubbed his shoulder unconsciously. Sirius saw him and sniggered to himself. Remus hit him over the back of the head, causing Harry to laugh.

"Think that's funny do you?" Remus asked in a baby voice and did it again. Harry laughed more.

"Oi! That's enough." Sirius ducked as Remus tried again.

"I managed to fix Ron." Hermione continued over their ruckus. "Then I put up some protective enchantments around the area. I had apparated us to the woods where we had camped for the world cup. Harry put up the tent I had borrowed from Mr Weasley and we sat down to recover."

"That is a pretty successful raid of the Ministry. Sure you lost the safe house, but you got out of there with the locket, alive and helped some muggle-borns in the process." Remus said, looking highly impressed.

"I can't believe you made it out alive." Lily breathed, finally relaxing. James rubbed his arm to try and get circulation running again from where Lily had been gripping him.

"We couldn't either." Hermione told them. "We decided to take turns wearing the locket to keep it safe."

"That is definitely not a good idea. Put it in your bag if you have to but wearing it is a stupid idea." Sirius said immediately.

"It's a piece of Voldemort's soul. Why on earth would you wear it?" James asked at the same time.

"We didn't want to risk it being stolen, or leaving it somewhere." She shrugged.

"Like you would leave your bag anywhere." Remus snorted.

"Anyway, Harry and I took turns to keep watch."

"At least you kept watch." McGonagall sighed.

"Now we just had the problem of locating the others. We had always had a vague idea about the locket, but all the others we had no clues at all as to where to find them."

"Did Albus give you no clues?" McGonagall asked in exasperation. Hermione shook her head.

"Harry had another dream about Voldemort killing Gregorovitch after finding out something had been stolen from him. I took over watch and the boys slept.

Just the Dumbledore came back in.

"All is taken care of. Pettigrew thinks that the Death Eaters helped him to become an animagus and should say so even when questioned under veritaserum. All memories of full moons with Remus have been wiped from him." He announced. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you professor." James said.

"No problem Mr Potter. Although I do suggest you and Mr Black get yourselves registered." He replied, a twinkle in his eyes. They both nodded. Everybody caught the Professor up on what he had missed and he looked impressed.

"The next few days were hard. We moved around a lot and never stayed in the same place two nights in a row. We kept sneaking around for food. We found that the locket affected us badly as mad each of our moods worse. Harry couldn't produce a patronus while wearing it. Ron became a pain in the ass, even worse when it was his turn with the locket."

"You should take it off." James advised with a sigh.

"We spent so much time discussing where the Horcruxes could be. We ruled out loads of places, although Harry was convinced there was one in Hogwarts, Ron and I shot down that idea."

"Why? Harry's instincts are usually correct?" Remus frowned.

"Well we didn't think it possible Voldemort had time to ever place one there." Hermione defended herself. "Anyway, while hiding in the Forest of Dean, we heard people for the first time in a while. It was Dean, Ted Tonks and Griphook."

"Tonks' dad?" Remus gasped.

"What is Dean doing there and travelling with a goblin?" Sirius asked.

"Well Dean's dad left his mum and he had no proof that his dad was a wizard so he would have been rounded up as a muggle-born. Ted Tonks is a muggle-born and Griphook and another goblin were on the run because Voldemort was trying to take over Gringotts and they refused to serve him."

"No surprises there." James said. "No goblin would willingly serve a wizard."

"They were discussing Griphook's revenge. Apparently Ginny, Neville and Luna had tried to break into Snape's office to steal the sword of Gryffindor. Snape then sent it to Gringotts where Griphook recognised it as a fake. Griphook saw no need to tell the Death Eaters this."

Everyone gave a small laugh. "This goblin may not be so bad." Sirius chuckled.

"Once they were gone, we tried questioning Phineas about the attempted break in but he was uncooperative. Although he did let slip that Professor DUmbledore used it to break the ring and we realised that's why he had left it to Harry in the will."

"That's good. At least it's not in Gringotts or it would be impossible to get to." James said. Hermione smirked to herself at that. Not quite as impossible as they all thought.

"Well Harry and I were discussing where it could be. Then Ron got argumentative. He and Harry had a massive argument, Ron had been wearing the locket which made his mood even worse. In the end he left us and went back to the Burrow." Hermione looked down miserably. James and Sirius looked furious.

"What kind of friend is that?" James spluttered indignantly.

"First he thinks Harry put his name in the cup during that stupid tournament, now this. Some use Weasley is." Sirius sneered.

"Ron was a good friend. He just wasn't expecting it to be this bad. None of us were. Harry had told us plenty of times he had no idea where the Horcruxes were but I think both of us thought he had a more solid idea. I'm not saying it's Harry's fault." She added quickly, seeing the glares. "But the locket didn't help."

"From that, you should have worked out not to wear it." Sirius sighed. Hermione just sighed and continued avoiding everyone's eyes.


	28. Chapter 28

(A/N I can't even begin to apologise for the long delay. Just know I am sorry, I promise it won't happen again. :D. This is the penultimate chapter of this story. Can't believe I've almost made it. I will be starting a new story with the aftermath and how the new future looks called Changing Time. Enjoy this chapter.)

Chapter 27: Godric's Hollow and Malfoy Manor

"For the next few weeks Harry and I kept apparating around the country trying to come up with new ideas about where the Horcruxes could be hidden. We kept using the portrait of Phineas Nigellus to get news of what was going on at Hogwarts. As far as we could tell Neville, Luna and Ginny were keeping Dumbledore's Army going as best they could and rebelling where possible."

"Brave kids." James smiled.

"But they have Death Eaters teaching." McGonagall pointed out.

"There would only be so much we could do to protect them." Flitwick agreed.

"As it approached Christmas, Harry voiced the idea about going back to Godric's Hollow." Hermione continued.

James and Lily smiled sadly. "It would be a trap of course. Voldemort would expect that." James sighed.

"But still, he has never been." Sirius pointed out.

"I wish he didn't have to." Remus muttered. Everyone nodded their agreement.

"We decided to go. It was Christmas eve when we arrived. Harry was disguised using Polyjuice potion, I had borrowed some of Moody's stock, and we were under the cloak."

"Should you not have been disguised as well?" Lily asked in concern.

"Yeah, everyone will know you almost as well as Harry by now." Sirius added, looking worried.

"We had the cloak. I didn't think I needed it." Hermione told them. "We went to the graveyard and saw the grave of Kendra and Ariana Dumbledore." Dumbledore looked down, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. McGonagall put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. They all looked down silently for a minute.

"Please continue Miss Granger." Dumbledore said thickly.

"We also saw a grave of Ignotus Peverell. There was a mark on his tomb that I had seen in the copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard that the Professor left me. Xenophilius Lovegood had also worn it as a necklace at the wedding."

"What mark is that?" Sirius asked.

"The symbol of the Deathly Hallows." James said.

"How do you know that?" Remus asked in astonishment.

"I grew up in that village. I saw that tomb plenty of times and grew up with the stories." James informed him with a smug grin.

"Then we found James and Lily's grave." Hermione said softly and the mood dropped again. James gripped Harry tighter to himself. "I made a wreath that we could lay there and Harry stood for a few minutes."

"Thanks 'Mione." James gave her a weak smile though he looked ready to cry.

"As we left the graveyard we saw the Potter's old cottage." Hermione glanced around the room, shivering slightly as she remembered seeing it destroyed and neglected. Sirius squeezed her hand. "At the gate there was a plaque dedicated to Lily and James and around the message there was loads of messages wishing Harry luck and supportive things like that."

"That's really sweet." Lily said with a watery smile.

"He's going to need all the luck he can get." Flitwick muttered.

"Too true." McGonagall replied quietly.

"As we turned around we saw Bathilda Bagshot looking straight at us. She led us back to her house."

"She didn't say anything?" Dumbledore asked. Hermione shook her head.

"What? But she was our neighbour and good friend. She must have recognised Harry." James frowned in confusion. Hermione shuddered slightly.

"Well, we followed her. When we got to her house she wanted Harry to go upstairs."

"Split up? Not a good idea." Lily exclaimed.

"You're telling me." Hermione muttered under her breath. Remus heard her and his head snapped up. "She took him upstairs and cornered him. Turns out she was actually Voldemort's snake, Nagini, hidden in Bathilda's body.

"Gross!" James cried.

"Poor Bathilda." Lily whimpered.

"Get out of there!" Cried Sirius.

"The snake summoned Voldemort. I came running upstairs. The snake was writhing everywhere trying to capture Harry. I cast confringo and everything was so confused. Harry was yelling that Voldemort was on his way. He grabbed me and we jumped out the window and disapparated just in time."

"Thank god for that." Remus breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Stupid trap. Knew it would be a trap." Lily was muttering frantically.

"No one got splinched this time did they?" James asked worriedly.

"No. Both of us were fine." Hermione assured him.

"Well that could have been a lot worse." Sirius sighed. Hermione winced, remembering what had happened.

"Harry went into some sort of trance. He saw the night you two were killed from Voldemort's point of view."

Lily gasped and James was deathly pale.

"He shouldn't have to see that. He remembers too much already." Sirius whispered, a single tear trickling down his cheek at the thought of what his cub would have to go through.

"I couldn't wake him no matter what I did. The horcrux was stuck to him and it was all I could do to even get him into bed."

"It's not your fault Hermione." Remus assured her.

"Of course not." Sirius said sharply.

"When he finally woke up I had to tell him that his wand had broken." Hermione whispered, so quietly they could barely hear her."

"What?" James gasped. "That's his protection against Voldemort!"

No. Remember Mouldy shorts got a new one because of the connection." Sirius reminded him.

"I don't care. No other wand will work as well and Harry needs all the help he can get." Lily said frantically. Hermione was looking at the floor miserably.

"It was my fault. I cast the blasting curse." She muttered.

"You were trying to get both of you out alive. As much as it sucks, I would rather you lost the wand and not your lives." James reassured her.

"Yeah 'Mione. Better that than either of you." Remus said.

Hermione sniffed and then carried on. "Well while Harry was upstairs I noticed a copy of Rita's book the Life and LIes of Albus Dumbledore in the house which I took. The morning after Harry woke up, we started to read it. We read the chapter about Grindelwald coming to Godric's Hollow and his association with Dumbledore." Dumbledore covered his eyes. This was not his best moments and definitely not something he wished to revisit.

"Professor?" Sirius looked over at the headmaster questioningly. Everyone seemed stunned that he knew such a dark wizard.

"It wasn't a particularly nice read but it covered the death of the Professor's mother and sister as well as his friendship with Grindelwald. Neither of us read any further."

"No details?" James asked, eyebrow raised.

"No. That is up to the Professor to divulge any further details." Hermione said firmly. Dumbledore looked at her with gratitude in his eyes. Everyone nodded respectfully keeping silent despite their curiosity.

"I shall tell all of you the story one day, but for now let us press on with dear Harry's tale." Dumbledore said quietly.

Well, I apparated us to the Forest of Dean and we set up camp. One night just after Christmas, Harry was keeping watch when he saw a silver doe in the woods. It was a patronus but I don't think he realised at the time."

"A doe? Isn't that your patronus Lils?" James asked. Lily nodded, eyes wide.

Well obviously it isn't mine. Who else would send a patronus to Harry?" She asked. Everyone just shrugged.

"Harry followed it,"

"Of course he did. Why not follow a strange patronus into the forest, away from protection when you don't even know who cast it." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, he followed it to a clearing with a pool. At the bottom of the pool he saw the sword of Gryffindor."

"What?" James exclaimed.

"The very thing Dumbledore left him to destroy horcruxes happens to be lying in the bottom of a pool in the very forest you apparate to?" Remus questioned suspiciously.

"And a patronus led you to it. But if they are friendly, why use a patronus and not show themselves?" Lily asked.

"Maybe they couldn't risk moving from wherever they were so they had to use a patronus." James suggested.

"But they had to have put the sword in the pool. Why not just give it straight to Harry?" Remus rolled his eyes.

"Someone who loves theatrics?" Sirius grinned.

"But you ain't there Siri." James chuckled.

"Oi! I didn't mean me." Sirius pouted.

"But you love theatrics more than anyone." Remus pointed out. Sirius grumbled under his breath.

"So anyway," Hermione interrupted their bickering. "Harry decided that he would go into the pool to get the sword. After he tried summoning it."

"He went into a freezing cold lake, in December?" Lily asked in horror. James and Sirius shuddered just thinking about it. All the teachers pulled disgusted faces.

"Yep. He forgot to take the locket off and it almost strangled him until Ron jumped in and saved him."

"Ron's back?" Lily asked.

"Where did he come from?" Sirius asked.

"How on earth did he find you?" Remus questioned at the same time.

"Least he did something useful this time." James grumbled, still not quite ready to forgive Ron for ditching his best friends in their time of need.

"Ron and Harry made up and then Harry wanted Ron to stab the locket and destroy it as he was the one who fetched the sword in the end. Harry couldn't reach it due to the locket. Harry opened it with parseltongue and a smoke figure came out. It played on Ron's insecurities. He almost couldn't do it, but in the end he stabbed it and the locket broke."

"Well done Ron!" They all cheered.

"Once they had done that, they came back to the tent and woke me up. I was quite pissed at Ron and may have hit him quite a bit."

"Good for you." James muttered under his breath so Lily wouldn't hear.

"He told us his story about getting caught by some Snatchers. They were groups of people, not Death Eaters but evil enough anyway, who were trying to round up undesirables for money. He managed to get away and even got a spare wand which Harry started using."

"Not perfect, but better than him borrowing yours." James sighed. "Harry didn't win it so it won't work as well for him as it would even for Ron."

"It was the best we could do." Hermione sighed. "But anyway, Ron then told us that he had wanted to come back for a while. One day he heard my voice coming out of the deluminator. He clicked it and a ball of light appeared, it flew into him and he apparated right to the hillside where we had been camping. Due to our spells he couldn't find us. He did that a few times until he saw the doe which led him to Harry."

"That is so cool. Didn't you make that yourself sir?" James asked eagerly, looking over at Dumbledore.

"I did indeed Mr Potter. A very useful device it is too." Dumbledore smiled.

"How does it do something like that?" Lily asked.

"Some very ingenious magic, if I do say so myself." Dumbledore replied, eyes twinkling. "It took many months to complete."

"They told me how Ron stabbed the locket and destroyed the horcrux. Ron became very enthusiastic again. He and Harry filled each other in with what happened while he was gone. Apparently there was a radio station supporting Harry up and running where they talked in code. They put a taboo on Voldemort's name so whenever it was said they could track the person who said it."

"Makes sense I suppose. Only those in the Order really say his name. Not even all of them do." James said grudgingly.

"Do they put that taboo in place during this war?" Lily asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure." Hermione confessed. "Just refer to him as Riddle. That is actually his name." She suggested.

"Or just Tom. He seems so much less scary when you know his real name is something as common as Tom. Not just that, but it's especially common among muggles." Sirius sniggered.

"Anyway, we spent a while discussing where others could be and who could have sent the patronus, but we didn't get any ideas. Harry was convinced one was hidden at Hogwarts, but Ron and I dismissed it."

"Why the hell would you do that?" Asked James angrily.

"We didn't think Riddle would ever have had time to place a horcrux at Hogwarts." Hermione defended.

"He made the ring in his sixth year didn't he? He was still at Hogwarts then." Remus pointed out reasonably. Hermione blushed.

"Besides, you dismissed Harry about Malfoy being a Death Eater all last year, and look what happened? And did you forget Harry has had Riddle in his head for the past few years, he probably has the best insight of all of you as to where a horcrux would be hidden." James ranted. He knew that Harry's friends were just doing what they thought was right, but he was so sick of everyone doubting his son when Harry had been nothing but right.

"You are right James, but what's done is done." Lily interjected soothingly. She also thought that it was stupid of Hermione and Ron to so readily dismiss Harry's suggestions, but clearly shouting at Hermione now would do no good. Meanwhile. Hermione was looking down at her hands in her lap, her cheeks crimson.

"Anyway, while reading the tales of Beedle the Bard that Professor Dumbledore left me, I spotted a strange symbol. I remembered that Xenophilius Lovegood had been wearing the symbol at Bill and Fleur's wedding so I wanted to go and talk to him about it."

"Does it have anything to do with the Horcruxes?" Sirius asked.

"We didn't know. But as Professor Dumbledore left me the book I thought it was worth investigating." Hermione defended.

"I'm sure I left to you for some reason." Dumbledore smiled kindly.

"Shame you couldn't leave something more useful." James grumbled.

"He did try to leave the sword." McGonagall pointed out. "He must have known the Ministry wouldn't give it to Harry, but at least it was a clue." James nodded his grudging acknowledgement.

"The mark was also in the book on Dumbledore's life by Rita Skeeter. And although most of that is rubbish," She added, noting people's sceptical looks. "The symbol kept appearing and Xenophilius was the only person I could think of to ask. Ron backed me up though Harry didn't want to bother."

"Outvoted again." Sirius sighed.

"Ron's just scared of upsetting you again." Remus smirked.

"When we got to his house he seemed really nervous but invited us in. When we questioned him he told us of the Deathly Hallows. He got me to read out the whole story."

"It's just that. A story, isn't it?" Sirius asked.

"It's not." James said. Everyone stared at him except Dumbledore and Hermione. "The three brothers in the story are the three Peverells. My dad told me we are descendants of Ignotus Peverell. My cloak is from him."

"Your cloak is one of the Deathly Hallows?" Remus breathed.

"Yes. In my time Professor Dumbledore suspected as much, which is why he borrowed James' cloak and was able to pass it on to Harry." Hermione explained. Everyone looked slightly awed. "Xenophilius went to make some soup and we discussed which Hallow we would want. Then Harry investigated Luna's room. We had been told Luna was fishing and would be back, but we realised Xenophilius had lied. The Death Eaters had taken Luna."

"That poor man." Lily gasped.

"He's about to sell out Harry." James growled angrily.

"He tried to stop us leaving. Two Death Eaters showed up. We managed to escape, but made sure they saw Harry so they knew Xenophilius hadn't been lying to them. Once we were safe, the boys became excited by the story and I tried to persuade them to drop it."

"Seriously?" Remus said, raising his eyebrow.

"You were the one convincing them to go and investigate. You can't blame them for getting caught up in a story like that, especially as Harry owns the cloak." James pointed out.

"One night, during an argument Harry said Voldemort's name and we were surrounded by Snatchers."

"Oh no." Lily whimpered.

"I managed to hit Harry with a stinging Jinx to make him mostly unrecognisable. He lied and said his name was Vernon Dudley."

"Eww. I don't care how desperate for a fake name you are, why on earth would you pick that?" Sirius asked in disgust. He couldn't forgive the Dursley's for mistreating his cub as badly as they had.

"I said I was Penelope Clearwater, who I knew was a half-blood. Ron couldn't get away with being anyone but a Weasley really. Not with his hair. They almost bought it but then recognised me and we got taken to Malfoy Manor. They tried to make Draco identify Harry but he said he wasn't sure."

"He lied for you?" James asked in astonishment.

"There is hope for the little brat." Sirius smirked. "I'm not so surprised though, Narcissa was never really into the whole Death Eater thing. It was always Lucius and Bellatrix." He spat the last name out like poison.

"They put the boys in the dungeon and kept me out to find out where we had gotten the Sword. Bellatrix was convinced it should be in her fault. She kept asking me what else we had taken from her vault."

"So something important is in there as well as the sword." James asked.

"Another horcrux!" Remus exclaimed. Everyone got a little excited, forgetting the predicament the trio were in.

"If it's in her vault then you would have to...break into Gringotts." Lily said suddenly. Everyone's eyes snapped up to Hermione, who smirked.

"You didn't?" Breathed Sirius in awe. Hermione said nothing.

"Down in the cellar, Harry saw Ollivander, Griphook and Luna. Harry was watching the piece of mirror from Sirius and thought he saw an eye. Someone came to take Griphook up to say if the sword was a fake or not. He lied and told them the one we had was the fake. Then Dobby appeared and apparated Luna and Ollivander out, agreeing to come back for Harry. Then Pettigrew came in."

"No!" Growled the three marauders.

"Harry and Ron attacked him, but his silver hand started strangling Harry."

"I'm going to kill him." James yelped furiously.

"Harry reminded him that he had saved Pettigrew's life and that he owed him. The hand acted of its own accord and strangled Pettigrew instead. His own hand killed him."

The three friends looked down. They were viciously glad that the traitor was dead and unable to hurt their little Prongslet ever again, but a small part of them mourned for their friend. No matter what he had done and become, he was once a friend and marauder.

"Harry and Ron managed to get hold of some wands and started duelling. Harry stunned Lucious. But then Bellatrix threatened to kill me if they didn't stand down. Before anyone could do anything the chandelier crashed to the floor. Dobby had come back. Ron pulled me out of the wreckage, Harry wrestled our wands from Draco and stunned Greyback."

"Greyback was there?" Remus growled.

"He was one of the snatchers that caught us. Bellatrix threw the knife as we all disapparated. As Dobby was the one doing it we got past any wards. We arrived at Bill and Fleur's cottage which was our designated meeting place with Luna and Ollivander. As we arrived, we saw that the knife had hit Dobby." Hermione's voice trailed off as a tear trickled down her cheek.

"That poor elf." Lily cried.

"We definitely have to find a way to free him from the Malfoys." Sirius said firmly. James nodded.

"Let's take a break then we can finally finish this." Hermione said. Everyone nodded.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 28: The Gringotts break in and getting to Hogwarts

Lily stood up to check Harry and James turned to Hermione.

"Speaking of the Malfoy's. What did Bellatrix do to you?" He asked. "Don't give me that look," He added when Hermione feigned innocence. "We got distracted by the horcrux but there is no way Bella played nice when questioning you. Hermione groaned inwardly. She bit her lip before responding.

"She used the cruciatus curse a lot." She mumbled.

"Yeah, she always was a bit too happy to use that curse." Sirius scowled. Everyone else was looking both angry and apprehensive. "Anything else?" Hermione's hand unconsciously moved to her right arm as she responded.

"Just curse happy." She tried for a smile but Sirius had spotted her arm movement.

"What happened to your arm then?" He asked.

"Just a cut." She said, suddenly having more sympathy for Harry when he had been hiding the scars Umbridge gave him. Remus raised an eyebrow and Sirius made a grab for her, which Hermione was too slow to dodge. Pushing up her sleeve he gasped in horror. The word mudblood was still clear against her skin. Sirius dropped her arm and ran out of the room. He could be heard throwing up in the kitchen. Looking stunned, James took her arm and his face went red with anger.

"That BITCH!" He yelled. The professors, who had been chatting in the corner, whipped around and saw what caused the commotion. McGonagall's hand flew to her mouth and Dumbledore's eyes grew hard. Flitwick became muttering viciously under his breath. Then Lily came flying down the stairs with Harry in her arms, looking wild.

"What on earth…" She started but then trailed off seeing Hermione's arm. She gaped for a minute and then clutched Harry tighter unable to take her gaze of the offending word.

"That sick, twisted, vile…" Remus' voice died out as he ran out of words bad enough to describe Bellatrix.

"I'm going to kill her." Sirius said in a low voice, coming back into the room. "I don't care what the future says, she will die by my hand." The disgust and horror had been replaced by a cold, hard fury.

"Oh Sirius." Hermione sighed, pulling him into a hug.

"We should be comforting you Hermione, not the other way around." James said thickly through clenched teeth.

"It's already happened to me. I'm not over it exactly," Hermione didn't want to admit she still had nightmares about what had happened in Malfoy Manor. "But to me it happened a long time ago and I've dealt with it. You've just discovered it."

"That's not the point." His face went slightly green again.

"There is nothing we can do about it now." Hermione reminded them.

"You should have let me accompany you." Remus said sadly.

"No Remus. For one thing Greyback was there, and they would probably have killed you on sight. And Tonks needed you." Hermione told him firmly.

"She's right Rem. I don't think you would have survived long enough to help." James told him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you want a bit more time or shall we carry on with the story?" Hermione asked tentatively, pushing her sleeve back down and hiding the offensive word.

"Let's just get on with it." James sighed, looking around. Everyone nodded. He sat down on the loveseat with Lily and Harry. Remus remained on the chair, Sirius and Hermione sat next to each other on the couch. The Professors hadn't moved from the chairs they had conjured for themselves. Sirius took Hermione's hand as everyone turned to her.

"Well once we arrived, Harry dug a grave for Dobby while Ron took me inside." The mood, which was already sour and angry, took another downturn at the reminder of Dobby. "Once he was done, Harry, Ron, Luna and Dean had a little memorial service."

"That's nice of them." Lily smiled weakly.

"The least that elf deserved. He is definitely a hero." James said.

"Inside we were talking about the Weasley's having to move to their aunt Muriel under the Fidelius charm to be safer. It was planned to send Ollivander and Griphook there too. Harry wanted to talk to them both first. All three of us went up to see Griphook first."

"Be very careful when dealing with goblins." Sirius warned. Hermione suppressed a grimace.

"Griphook called him odd for burying Dobby and rescuing Griphook himself."

"Yeah, most wizards wouldn't have bothered. Sad but true." Remus sighed. James and Sirius threw him sorrowful looks.

"Griphook was unwilling because Harry wanted to break into Gringotts." There was a ringing silence at this.

"He...what?" James asked weakly.

"My godson is insane." Sirius said, looking over at the baby.

"Takes after his godfather then." Remus grinned. "I can't believe he would even attempt that. Why would he?"

"When Bellatrix was...questioning me," Everybody flinched and scowled. "She kept asking what else we had stolen besides the sword from her vault. Harry thought Voldemort may have given her a horcrux to hide there."

"I suppose that is a reasonable reason for breaking in. It's going to take a lot of planning though." James looked thoughtful.

Lily saw silent. She did not want her son breaking into Gringotts for several reasons but couldn't deny it was necessary.

"You will definitely need Griphook though." Remus sighed.

"Griphook agreed to sleep on his decision and tell us the next morning. After we left, Harry explained that Voldemort would have hidden one there because he would have seen the place when he first went to Diagon Alley, and probably envied anyone with a key. He saw it a s symbol of really belonging to the magical world."

"Harry really understands him doesn't he?" Lily asked softly. The marauders looked ill and angry at that suggestion.

"After having Voldemort in his head for so many years, and the lessons Dumbledore gave him last year, yeah, Harry did understand him. And they were both half-bloods who knew nothing of the wizarding world until they turned 11."

James and Lily flinched at the last part. Sirius linked his fingers with Hermione as much for his own support as hers.

"Ollivander said he couldn't fix Harry's wand, but Harry had wrestled Draco's wand off him so he could use that. Ron had taken Pettigrew's wand and we also had Bellatrix's."

"Bin the piece of sh…"

"Black!" Lily scolded.

"Ollivander had also never heard of what Harry's wand did to the wand Voldemort borrowed when we took Harry from Privet Drive for the last time. He then told us Voldemort was searching for the Elder wand. He told us that Gregorovitch had it. It was then stolen by Grindelwald. From there well…" Hermione looked over at Dumbledore. Everyone followed her gaze.

"Albus! You have it?" McGonagall gasped. He nodded, withdrawing the wand from his pocket looking slightly hesitant.

"As we realised this Harry had a vision of Voldemort finding the wand in Dumbledore's tomb." Everyone groaned except Dumbledore who was looking thoughtful. "Thankfully next morning Griphook agreed to help us. In exchange for Gryffindor's sword."

"You can't give him that!" Sirius yelped. "You need it to destroy horcruxes."

"We decided to tell him he could have it after he helped us getting into the vault, but avoid telling him exactly when."

"Nice." James grinned.

"Griphook will see through that. You should always be careful with goblins." Sirius argued.

"We didn't exactly have many other options." Hermione sighed. "So we began planning. We had enough polyjuice potion for one person. We just needed a proper plan."

"So it can all go to hell and you plan on your feet?" Sirius asked with a wry grin.

"Don't say that." Lily muttered.

"Soon Ollivander was moved to Muriel's. One night Remus came to visit," Hermione looked over at him grinning. "Tonks had had the baby." Everyone cheered.

"Moony is a dad!" James cried happily.

"He was a little boy called Teddy Remus Lupin. A metamorphmagus like his mother. Remus asked Harry to be his godfather."

"Aww. That's sweet of you Moony." James grinned. Sirius had gotten up and was slapping Remus on the back.

"Congrats old buddy." He cheered. Remus was grinning widely.

"I have a son." He whispered.

"Congratulations Mr Lupin." Dumbledore smiled.

"Thank you sir." After a few more minutes of celebration, Hermione decided it was time to carry on.

"After Remus left, Bill warned Harry about dealing with goblins. We had a plan in place. Bellatrix had left a hair on my jumper so I was going to use the Polyjuice potion. We had her wand so it would be convincing."

"No. They would have warned the goblins you stole her wand. If they see it they will know it's you." Remus groaned.

"The next morning, I took the potion. I did a bit of transfiguration on Ron to make him look different. Harry and Griphook would be under the invisibility cloak. Once we arrived in Diagon Alley we bumped into Travers another Death eater."

"Oh wonderful. Not even in Gringotts and you've got problems." Sirius muttered.

"He said that the people in Malfoy Manor had been confined to the house but I told him Voldemort forgives those who served him faithfully. Thankfully that made him less suspicious."

"Quick thinking." Remus smiled approvingly.

"He accompanied us to Gringotts. The goblins had indeed be warned of an intruder but a quick imperius curse from Harry took care of everything. One on the counter goblin and one on Travers."

"He used that curse?" James asked in disgust.

"It was necessary. Harry didn't like doing it anymore than you like the idea of him doing it." Hermione sighed.

"I wish there was a better way." James muttered.

"Don't we all?" Lily said.

"We made it into the carts and then went through the waterfall that removes all enchantments. All was going ok until we met the dragon."

"Dragon?" Lily spluttered.

"Yeah, they have a couple guarding the really old vaults. There is one near my family one." James told her. She gaped at him, open-mouthed.

"We got into the vault and found Hufflepuff's cup. However curses had been put on all the stuff. We only just made it out. Griphook took the sword before we could destroy the cup. Loads of goblins were coming and Griphook was shouting about thieves."

"That little treacherous moron." Sirius spat.

"Never make deals with goblins." Remus groaned.

"How on earth are you going to get out of there?" McGonagall asked, looking worried.

"Harry decided to ride the dragon out of there. We clambered on, released it and flew away."

"So, let's get this straight, you broke into Gringotts; broke into the Lestrange's vault; found a horcrux; got betrayed by a goblin, and escaped on a dragon?" Sirius asked half in awe and half in amusement. Hermione nodded.

"You. Are. Amazing!" James cried grinning wildly.

"I don't believe how much luck you guys had. You have the extremes of both good and bad." Remus shook his head in astonishment.

"We flew for a while and when the dragon began losing height we jumped off into a lake. Once we made it to dry land we were discussing what to do when Harry had a vision. Voldemort knew that we had broken into Gringotts and what we had taken. He now knew what we were doing."

"Oh no!" Sirius cried.

"He decided to check on the Gaunt house first and then the lake so we had a bit of time. Harry also saw that he thought the Hogwarts one was safest along with Nagini, his snake."

"So Harry was right all along. Again. There was one at Hogwarts." James sighed.

"Yeah, that'll be easy. Harry Potter wandering back into Hogwarts with greasy git as headmaster." Sirius snorted.

"How exactly were you planning on getting in?" Lily asked.

"We didn't exactly plan. Harry decided we had to go there and then. We changed into dry clothes, put the cloak on and disapparated to Hogsmeade. Sadly they put up a caterwauling charm so we were detected."

"Just wonderful." Lily scowled.

"That's what we thought too." Hermione smiled. "They tried to summon the cloak but it didn't work. We tried to disapparate but they had set up anti apparition wards so we were stuck. Dementors were coming."

"How the hell did you get out of this one?" James asked looking pale.

"If you let me continue you will find out." Hermione teased, sticking her tongue out. Sirius laughed and James blushed. "We retreated down a side street and Harry had to cast a patronus."

"No. You or Ron should have done it. His patronus is too noticeable." Remus groaned.

"Thankfully someone opened a door and told us to go inside."

"And you trusted them?" Lily asked, incredulous.

"It was them or Death Eaters." Hermione reminded her. She nodded but still looked worried. The person who saved us told the Death Eaters that it was his patronus, a goat, they had seen. He yelled at them and they finally backed away. When he came back we saw it was the barman of the Hog's Head." Dumbledore looked up with interest. His brother hadn't spoken to him in years. At least he was helping Harry.

"Aberforth?" McGonagall asked with a raised eyebrow. Hermione nodded.

"It turned out he had got Sirius' two way mirror off Mundungus Fletcher and had been keeping an eye on us. He had sent Dobby to us in Malfoy Manor. He gave us some food and then we told him we had to get to Hogwarts. He told us a little bit about his history." Dumbledore sighed. He knew his brother would never forgive him, nor did he expect him to. "He wasn't very happy about it but in the end he sent us through a secret passageway behind a portrait in his pub."

"There isn't a secret passage to Hogwarts through the Hog's Head?" James frowned.

"There wasn't, but one got created."

"Huh? Hogwarts can create it's own passages?" Sirius asked. "Cool!"

"Neville came out of the passage and he looked terrible. He asked if we had really broken into Gringotts and escaped on a dragon which we confirmed. He told us the Carrows had been making them practise the cruciatus curse on people who have earned detentions." The marauders were all pale and angry. Lily starting crying quietly.

"What?" Thundered McGonagall.

"No!" Gasped Flitwick. There was a gathering aura around Dumbledore whose eyes were cold and hard.

"Neville and the rest of the DA had been fighting them but the torture forced them to do more underground stuff. In the end they went after Neville's gran to try and stop him but she got away and told him she was proud of him."

"I cannot believe the world is coming to this." Lily sobbed.

"He took us up the passage that came out in the room of requirement. It seemed like the whole DA had been camped out there. It was too dangerous for them to return to normal school. They explained that they had been living there because of the danger, the passageway had opened up so they could get food from the pub."

"That's so cool." James exclaimed, looking excitedly at Sirius. "Not the danger, just that the school can create its own passageways."

"Well everyone seemed to expect that Harry had come back to lead a fight. We had to tell them we were looking for something from Ravenclaw. While we were talking a load more people appeared like Luna, Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins who brought Ginny. Cho Change also came and suggested the lost Diadem. It was decided that Luna would take Harry to the Ravenclaw common room to start the search."

"It won't be there. Voldemort wouldn't have hidden it in such an obvious place." Sirius pointed out.

"We knew that, but it was the only place we could think of to even begin." Hermione sighed.

"There is a statue of the diadem in the common room so it will give you an idea what you are looking for." Lily said. "My friend was in Ravenclaw."

"Meanwhile. Ron had the idea that we could go to the Chamber of Secrets to get a Basilisk fang so we could destroy the horcruxes. So we went to the bathroom, Ron managed to speak parseltongue, saying Harry talked in his sleep, and I destroyed the cup."

"Awesome. So that only leaves the diadem and the snake." Sirius cheered.

"Getting the snake will be hard." Remus sighed.

"Such a downer Moody." James complained.

"Harry and Luna got into the Ravenclaw common room without difficulty but as soon as they arrived they were found by a Carrow who summoned Voldemort."

"No!" Gasped Lily.

"How did he get seen? He has the invisibility cloak." James asked.

"He had come out from under it to get a better look at the statue." Hermione explained.

"Idiot." Sirius groaned.

(A/N I had to split this chapter into two so there is one more chapter after this. Then onto the sequel. And for all those of my wonderful fans who also like Divergent, please check out my story 'The Value of Bravery' which is a EricxTris story)


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 29: The battle of Hogwarts

"Anyone want a break?" Hermione asked.

"No. We must be getting to end now. Let's just get this over with." Lily said. However she quickly took baby Harry upstairs, sure the next part would disturb him too much.

"Can't we have some comfort snacks?" Sirius asked pleadingly when she came back. She shot him a glare but then softens and fetched somes popcorn. "Thanks Lily Flower."

"Don't call me that." She snapped. Hermione smacked his arm and then high fived Lily while James and Remus laughed.

"Back to the Ravenclaw common room. Luna stunned the Carrow and Harry got back under the cloak as a bunch of Ravenclaws came down into the common room. The other Carrow was at the door but couldn't get into the room. He couldn't answer the question to get in. Then Professor McGonagall arrived and let him in. He burst in, the kids all scarpered as Amycus came running in. He spotted Alecto on the floor and wanted to curse the kinds into confessing who did it, but Professor McGonagall told him no."

"Go Minnie!" Cheered Sirius and James.

"Mr Potter! Mr Black! I have told you not to call me that." McGonagall said sternly, although a smile was tugging at the corner of her lips.

"McGonagall was arguing with him and then he spat in her face." Hermione said angrily.

"How dare he!" Exploded James.

"That filthy animal." Flitwick exclaimed, his normally cheerful face full of anger. Even Dumbledore looked furious, there was no twinkle in his eyes.

"Thank you all. But let's continue with the story." McGonagall said with a small smile. She appreciated their defense of her very much.

"Harry immediately appeared and cursed Amycus. Nearly gave McGonagall a heart attack and then turned to face her."

"Good boy Harry." James beamed.

"Harry explained why they were there. Professor McGonagall said she would wake everyone, evacuate the school and get ready to fight. The Death Eater had pressed his dark mark so Voldemort knew Harry was at Hogwarts."

Lily and James clutched each other's hand. This was it. The beginning of the greatest battle of all time they imagined. Sirius took Hermione's hand as well.

"Harry told her about the passageway through the Room of requirements to get the kids out. Professor McGonagall sent patronuses to the other heads of houses. Professor Slughorn had taken over as head of Slytherin as Snape was headmaster."

James made a noise of disgust.

"On the way to wake everyone they ran into Snape. Luna and Harry were under the cloak. Snape accused Professor McGonagall of hiding Harry and they dueled.

"Go Professor McGonagall!" James and Sirius cheered.

"Then Professors Flitwick, Sprout and Slughorn arrived and Snape was forced to withdraw. He ran from Hogwarts."

"Yes!" Cheered the three boys. Lily couldn't bring herself to celebrate. She mourned for the friend she had known and mourned for what he had become.

"Professor Flitwick told Harry that nobody had seen the diadem in living memory and the teachers began putting up spells to defend the school. Harry went back to the Room of Requirement where Neville had contacted people in the Order. Remus had arrived with Kingsley and the rest of the old Gryffindor Quidditch team. Mr and Mrs Weasley also arrived and were telling the twins off for bringing Ginny. Harry told them that the school was fighting so everyone made their way to the Great Hall."

"Be careful Moony." James said, even though it wouldn't make a difference. Hermione had to keep back a sob at that.

"It was decided Ginny could stay but she had to stay in the Room of Requirement and wasn't allowed to fight. Then Percy turned up."

"Caught on has he?" Sirius remarked bitterly.

"He came and admitted he had been stupid. Remus showed us all a photo of Teddy and the Weasley's all embraced Percy."

"At least they are all together again." James commented. Hermione couldn't completely hide her shudder at the thought of Fred's limp body lying next to Remus and Tonks. Sirius was the only one who noticed and put an arm around her shoulder comfortingly.

"The Great hall was packed. Professor McGonagall said they were evacuating any student who was not of age. Then Voldemort made his voice magnify throughout the hall. He told them to hand over Harry. Pansy Parkinson tried to grab him but the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws all made a barrier in front of him. Then everyone started leaving. All the Slytherins left. A few older Ravenclaws stayed behind."

Flitwick looked half proud and half worried.

"Some more Hufflepuffs stayed and almost half the Gryffindors stayed behind to help."

McGonagall now looked partly proud but even more worried. So many of her students putting their lives on the line. She expected nothing less from the house of Bravery but she wished she didn't have to worry about so many of her students.

"Professor McGonagall had to go down and weed out any younger students who wanted to stay behind. She reminded Harry he was supposed to be searching for the diadem. He remembered what Professor Flitwick had said about nobody in living memory having seen it. Harry realised he needed to speak to the Grey Lady, ghost of Ravenclaw."

"She has been asked many times. She has never told anyone." Flitwick said.

"He provoked her into telling the story of how she stole her mother's diadem and hid it in Albania. Rowena Ravenclaw had sent a someone to find Helena. The Bloody Baron killed her when she refused to return home with him. He then killed himself after seeing what he had done."

"Woah. So those two knew each other?" James asked in awe.

"Ravenclaw's ghost is the daughter of the founder?" Remus asked, intrigued. Hermione nodded yes to both questions.

"She revealed that she had told Tom Riddle the same information."

"Albania? Wasn't Voldemort rumoured to be hiding there?" James asked, frowning as he tried to remember.

"Yep." Lily told him.

"He realised that the diadem must be hidden in the room of requirement. He figured Voldemort must have hidden it on the way to Dumbledore's office when asking for a job. On his way he ran into Hagrid as Grawp shoved him in through a window."

Everyone chuckled though it was a little tense.

"Finally he ran back into me and Ron. We told him we had destroyed the cup and had brought back loads of fangs with us. We got to the room and figured we couldn't use it while people were inside. Ginny was there, with Augusta Longbottom and Tonks."

"NO." Moaned Remus. "Tonks should be at home with Teddy. It's too dangerous for her to be there."

"She's an auror Moony. Tonks is tough and will be fine." Sirius reassured him. Remus still looked pale.

"We told everyone they had to leave. Then Ron suggested that we get the House-Elves out so they wouldn't be killed. So I kissed him." Hermione confessed quietly. She avoided Sirius' eyes but felt his arm stiffen slightly around her. "Harry broke us up and outside we saw Ginny, Tonks and Aberforth. He said Remus had been duelling Dolohov so Tonks ran off to find him."

"I'll be fine. Tonks needs to go." Remus moaned into his hands. James got up and put his hand on Remus' shoulder.

"We transformed the room and began looking. We had to split up but before we found it Malfoy and his cronies appeared."

"Urgh. Just curse the little brat already." Sirius groaned.

"There were curses flying everywhere, Harry spotted the diadem but it flew away when the pile of junk got hit by a curse."

"Damn." James huffed.

"I hit Goyle with a stunning spell but Crabbe was flinging curses everywhere. He ended up using Fiendfyre and setting the whole place on fire."

"That idiot!" Remus exclaimed, looking up from his hands.

"Harry found some broomsticks so we could all fly out. Harry flew back to save Malfoy, while Ron and I got Goyle. As we left Harry turned and caught the diadem and we all just about made it out. Crabbe died in the fire. There was nobody outside. The diadem had been broken by the fiendfyre."

"Only one left. Almost there!" Everyone said excitedly.

"Then Percy and Fred appeared duelling some Death Eaters. Percy made a joke about resigning and then there was a massive explosion. When we got up Fred had been killed." Hermione's voice had got quieter as she went on and a tear trickled down her cheek as she remembered seeing his body.

"No! Not Fred." James cried, looking miserable.

"Poor George." Sirius said, looking horrified.

"I don't believe it. Those twins seemed like they could survive anything." Remus whispered. "So full of life."

The Professors were all crying silently.

Lily sobbed into James' shoulder. Nobody said anything for a minute as they all mourned the loss of such a wonderful character and innocent boy. Hermione leaned into Sirius' side remembering. Flashes from that final battle were imprinted on her brain and this was dragging them all up. She could practically taste the bitter air and see Fred's body being covered by Percy through the smoke. The screams and cries of the Weasley family when they found out would forever sound in her ears. At this tears began to flow faster down her face. The annoying tricksters had been like brothers to her. Sirius held her close and kissed her temple. After a few minutes everyone seemed ready to go again.

"Some giant spiders were climbing up the walls. Harry began blasting them down and we tried to get Percy to move. He didn't want to leave Fred's body." Her voice broke slightly on the last word. "But Harry helped Percy carry him and hide him in a safe niche where the body couldn't be destroyed. I dragged Harry and Ron behind a tapestry. I had to wrestle with Ron because he wanted to go and join Percy fighting the Death Eaters."

"I don't blame him. I would be exactly the same if it were one of you." Remus agreed.

"I basically did do the same thing." Sirius shrugged.

"As would I." Vowed James. "Nobody but me gets to hurt my best friends." Everyone gave a tense chuckle.

"Harry looked into Voldemort's head to find out where he was and found that he was in the shrieking shack."

"He's not even fighting?" Sirius burst out in anger.

"Consider that a good thing Mr Black. Or there would be even more casualties." McGonagall told him, blowing her nose into her handkerchief.

"He was telling Lucius Malfoy to fetch him Snape."

"What does he need Snivellus for?" Sirius spat.

"We argued about who would go to the shack as that was where Nagini was. In the end we got found by Death Eaters so I turned the stairway into a slide and then turned the exit into stone as we came out so the Death Eater fell into the wall."

"Nice!" Sirius complimented. Harry flung the cloak over all of us as the dust and debris would hide our feet. We ran into a corridor full of duellers. Peeves was throwing Snargaluff pods at the Death Eaters and we ran through. As we reached the Entrance Hall the spiders came bursting in and Hagrid went running into their midst."

"NO! Not Hagrid too?" Lily yelled. "Hagrid just can't be gone." Everyone else just looked stunned at that thought. Hagrid had always been there. Dumbledore looked even more grave than ever before. Remembering the boy Hagrid who was framed for being at the wrong place at the wrong time and still did his best.

"The spiders retreated under the onslaught of spells with Hagrid still in their midst. As we reached the front doors, a giant appeared. The Grawp came and they started fighting."

"Oh Gods. Spells, Giants, spiders, it's a miracle anyone made it out alive." McGonagall gasped. Once outside we ran into at least a hundred Dementors. Even Harry couldn't summon up a happy thought to conjure a patronus."

"Oh my baby, my poor baby." Lily was muttering. Sirius tightened his grip on Hermione as if to check she was still there. James was white and clutching Lily tightly.

"Thankfully Seamus, Luna and Ernie came and rescued us. We all finally conjured patronuses and the Dementors fell back, only to be replaced by the giant again. We had to split up, me, Ron and Harry heading towards the Whomping Willow and the others back to the castle. Ron froze the knot on the trunk and we all clambered in. Harry went first. Once we got close he put the cloak on and crept forwards. A box had been placed over the entrance so Harry could only see through a sliver. Snape was in there with Voldemort and Nagini."

Lily whimpered slightly and James hid his disgusted look in favour of comforting her.

"Snape was asking Voldemort if he could go and find Harry."

There were noises of anger and protest around the room.

"If that bast...greasy git," He amended at a sharp look from McGonagall. Lays one finger on my godson I will pulverise him into the ground even if I have to come back from the dead. "Sirius threatened.

"Me too." James growled.

"Me three." Lily added, surprising everyone. "No one touches my Hare Bear." She said in response to the looks she got from James and Sirius.

"Well Voldemort wouldn't let him. He said he needed him for something. He explained that he was still having problems with the Elder Wand. It wouldn't work for him. He had taken the wand from Dumbledore's grave. He reasoned that as Snape had killed Dumbledore, that Snape was the true master."

"Oh no." Lily gasped. A part of her knew he deserved to die for everything he had done, but a small part of Lily could never wish death on her first and best friend.

"Voldemort ordered Nagini to kill him." Hermione said in a flat voice. Everyone was silent. Nobody but Lily shed any tears for Snape. James and Sirius felt he deserved everything he got. Lily sobbed into James chest, crying for the friend she lost as well as the man he became.

"Not even Snivy...Snape deserves a death like that." Remus said, his face once again in his hands.

"Well once Voldemort left, Harry crept into the room. Snape was still alive, just. He He was leaking silvery fluid and told Harry to take it. He asked Harry to look at him and he stared into his eyes as he died."

More silence. Everyone knew exactly why he wanted to look into Harry's eyes as he died. To Lily this was a sign that whatever he had become, Sev had not forgotten the friendship they once shared. This was maybe a sign that they could save him this time around.

"As we stood there we heard Voldemort's voice again. He ordered his forces to retreat and said Harry had one hour to turn himself over or the battle would recommence."

"No. Harry! You can't." Lily cried as if the seventeen year old Harry could hear her. James had somehow gone even paler. He looked like a ghost.

"We went back to the Great Hall and saw everyone tending to wounds, finding friends. There was a line of bodies in the middle." Here Hermione took a deep breath. "The Weasleys were all around Fred. And next to them were…" She stopped. Her voice shaky. She could see the Great Hall in front of her.

"Who was it?" James asked.

"Remus." She said.

"NO!" Sirius and James let out high pitched cries in unison.

"And Tonks." Hermione added miserably.

"NO!" This time it was Remus who cried out in anguish. Tears cascaded down Remus' face. He had failed his future wife. Their son would be orphaned. He barely gave his own death a thought. His friend however were only focused on his death. James had disentangled himself from Lily and moved over to pull Remus into a rib cracking hug. Sirius got up and joined them. The three friends stood together, embracing in the knowledge that all of them died in the future.

"Moony. I…" Sirius' voice broke.

"I know Padfoot." Remus replied in an equally miserable tone. The Professors, Lily and Hermione watched the three friends with tears falling openly from each of their eyes.

"I don't believe it." James croaked, his voice hoarse from crying. "Moony, so soon after your son." This brought a fresh round of tears to all the females in the room.

"At least I died making a better world for him." Remus mumbled.

"It's not fair!" Sirius yelled. "You, Prongs, Lily. None of it." He created a dummy and made it explode before he fell to his knees in grief and his friends were not far behind.

"I know Pads. It's not fair you died either." James said.

"Tonks." Remus moaned. He barely knew her in this lifetime but the knowledge that she had accepted him as he was, married him even had touched him deeply. And her death caused him almost as much grief as his best friends and more so than his own. Someone like his friends and Tonks, so innocent, pure and whole did not deserve death.

"You didn't deserve this either Moony." James growled as if reading Remus' mind. "It took you so long to accept happiness and then...this."

"Maybe it's a sign I shouldn't be happy. First my best friend." He gestured at James. "Then I finally get my other friend back." He points to Sirius. "And then I get married. You all then died." Remus finished miserably. "Maybe I am truly cursed."

"Remus don't you believe a word of that bullshit!" Sirius growled, shaking him firmly.

"You are twice the person of almost anyone. The fact you are forced to turn into an animal once a month does not make you cursed. It makes you unlucky. And our deaths were nothing to do with you. We are at war. Casualties happen!" James told him. HIs own tears had stopped in his anger at his friends self loathing.

"Moony, Tonks was a trained Auror. She knew the dangers and so did I. It has nothing to do with you." Sirius said in a quieter voice.

"Remus you are one of the most deserving people I know." Hermione told him. She was still crying quietly. Then she stood up and embraced him. "And I'm proud to call you my cousin in this lifetime." And then McGonagall got up and embraced the three boys who had made her life so difficult and yet amusing.

"Wow, if I knew you dying would be a way to get a hug out of Minnie I would have killed you years ago Rem." Sirius tried to lighten the mood but McGonagall and Lily shot him such glares he coward away from them. But James and Remus both gave choked laughs. Everyone sat back down, but now James, Remus and Sirius were sat together on the couch. Lily and Hermione sat together on the magically enlarged loveseat.

"Ron and I went to be with his family. When Harry saw who was next to Fred he ran." Hermione avoided saying Remus and Tonks but everyone flinched anyway. "He ran to Professor Dumbledore's office. The password was Dumbledore. He threw Snape's memories into the pensive and dived in."

"What does he want to see those for?" James asked bitterly.

"He saw Snape's memories of telling Lily about magic. On the swings." Hermione looked over at Lily and saw her eyes misting over in remembrance. "He saw Snape telling Lily about Dementors and other parts of magic."

James frowned. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear this.

"Then Harry saw Lily and Snape heading off to school for the first time. And then the first meeting of Lily and James with Snape."

Here James blushed. He knew he had been a right prat. Lily smiled at him, now able to see the funny side.

"Harry watched the sorting. Time skipped and he watched various points in their time at Hogwarts. It was obvious Lily never noticed how Snape felt, but he wasn't exactly hiding it."

James flushed a darker shade of red but not from embarrassment. And Lily blushed.

"We told ya Lils." Sirius said.

"He re-watched the scene after your OWLs. Then Snape's attempt at an apology."

"Why would Snape give Harry these memories? It's hardly necessary, and I can't see him sharing this willingly." Sirius interjected.

"Because it is important." Hermione told him. "Then the memory skipped to Snape meeting with Dumbledore. Snape told him that he had told Voldemort about the prophecy. Snape had found out that Voldemort intended to target the Potters and begged Dumbledore to hide Lily. He confessed he had asked Voldemort to spare her."

"BIt late for that Snivellus." Sirius spat.

"He thought I would be happy if my son and husband were dead?" Snapped Lily. "He would be happy for them to die but me to live. He knows nothing about me."

"Dumbledore pointed that out. Snape requested he hide you all. He promised Dumbledore anything in return. Then it skipped to Snape wishing he were dead because Lily had died. Dumbledore told him Harry had survived and asked him to help protect Harry. Snape agreed as long as Dumbledore never revealed why Snape was helping."

"He was really on our side in the end?" Lily breathed. Hope blossomed in her chest. She could save him. Sev loved her. Lily had known really but denied it because she had almost not wanted it to be true. When he had called her a mudblood she had been convinced that everyone was wrong. Nobody who loved could call her that. But now the truth was being thrown in her face. Maybe if she had been more understanding she could have saved him earlier. Maybe he would never have become a Death eater. She began crying again. "Oh Sev. I'm so sorry." She mumbled. James got up and wrapped an arm around her and she leaned into his chest. Hermione moved over to sit next to Remus and James took her place beside Lily.

"He really was protecting our son all along. I was wrong about him Lil. Maybe we can still save him." James whispered in her ear. He hated the fact, but hearing this, he knew he had to put aside his hatred for Severus Snape. He had protected Harry when James himself could not. He was still angry about the treatment of his son. Humiliating him in lessons and bullying him throughout school. It was wrong of him to take out their schoolboy grudge on an innocent boy, but regardless, he had still protected Harry. And that was more important to James than anything. He knew he and Snape would never get along. Especially hearing how deep his feelings for Lily went. They would always be rivals, but he could put aside his hatred.

"You'd help me save him?" Lily breathed. James told her everything he had just thought and she beamed at him through the tears. He kissed her softly and just held her. Sirius was frowning slightly but Remus wore a proud expression. Hermione watched the couple with a smile. She waited a minute or two and then began again.

"The next memory was Snape talking to Dumbledore during the Triwizard tournament. Karkaroff's Dark mark had been getting darker, signalling his imminent return. Snape said he would not flee when Voldemort came back. Then he was in Dumbledore's office. He had just returned from fetching the Gaunt Ring. There was a curse on it. Snape managed to contain it to Dumbledore's hand but told him that he had a year left to live."

"Oh my gosh! So when Snape killed the professor at the end of sixth year, it had been going to happen anyway?"Remus exclaimed, speaking for the first time since they had started Snape's memories. Hermione nodded.

"Snape informed him that Voldemort had instructed Draco Malfoy to kill Dumbledore. He expected the boy to fail, but it was punishment for Lucius screwing up at the Department of mysteries."

"That poor boy." Lily said softly. "He is only sixteen." She said in response to the looks she was getting.

"Dumbledore then asked Snape to kill him when the time came. He explained to Snape that in the future Voldemort would fear for Nagini. He told Snape to tell Harry that when Voldemort came to the Potter's house that night. When Lily's protection broke him part of Voldemort's soul broke and latched onto the only living thing nearby."

"NO!" Lily screamed. "Not my baby." She whimpered.

"The connection between the two. Part of Voldemort's soul was in Harry?" McGonagall asked, going pale. Hermione nodded.

"Harry became a horcrux. To Kill Voldemort Harry had to die."

"No. He can't. After everything he has been through, he can't just die!" Remus cried.

"You said...You said Voldemort was gone but Harry was still alive!" Sirius yelled. "That can't be possible if he had to die."

"That poor, poor boy." McGonagall said, crying into a tissue.

"My son." Was all James could say. After everything he had given up. Everything his brave son had been through, and it was all leading up his death. Lily was sobbing harder than ever before. Sirius got up and went to get the baby Harry. He needed to check he was still with them. He brought the sleeping child back into the front room, hugging him tightly. His precious godson, so pure and innocent. Whole.

Lily jumped up and she and James moved over to Sirius, crowding around the baby. Remus quickly joined the group, all of whom were crying. MIraculously Harry managed to sleep through most of the commotion.

"You said Harry was alive when you came back here." Sirius turned his red rimmed eyes to Hermione. He was clinging to the one desperate hope that his Harry would not be destined to die.

"He was." She said softly.

"How is that possible?" Lily demanded.

"All will be explained." Hermione told them patiently. She understood all too well what they were feeling. She herself had seen Harry's body in Hagrid's arms and thought him dead. Hermione sat back down in the middle of Sirius and Remus. Lily and James clutched Harry between them. Dumbledore looked thoughtful but James was looking like he wanted to demand answers, but refrained.

"Harry then saw Snape confunding Mundungus and getting him to suggest that they should use seven Potters when moving Harry from Privet Drive. The accidental cursing of George's ear. He had been aiming for a Death eater. It was Snape that sent a patronus and hid the sword in the lake."

"He was helping all along?" Lily smiled softly. Sirius frowned and James pulled his wife close.

"I guess he was." McGonagall said.

"Once he finished looking at Snape's memories, Harry realised he needed to die. He had to go to Voldemort and give himself up."

"He...he had to walk to his own death?" Sirius asked, his mouth dropping open. Lily clutched the baby tighter to her as if afraid he might get up and walk off.

"You are so brave son." James whispered, ruffling the baby's hair, a tear trickling down his cheek. Remus had an arm around Sirius and so did Hermione on this other side. The teachers were all watching Harry with a mixture of sadness and awe.

"Harry put on his cloak and made his way back through the castle. He saw that Colin had been killed. Colin Creevey had snuck back in to fight." McGonagall put her hand to her mouth in horror. Everyone else looked upset and sad.

"That foolish, brave boy." Flitwick said.

"ON his way out, Harry spotted Neville. He took his cloak off and told him to kill the snake. He lied to Neville and said he wasn't going to hand himself over and then took off."

"And Neville let him?" James asked angrily.

"James, he had to go." Remus said miserably.

"But..but..he lives in the future right? There had to be another way." He asked desperately. He couldn't bare the idea that his son had to do this. Lily put one arm around him and he slumped back in defeat.

"Once at the forest, Harry pulled out the snitch that had read 'I open at the close'. He put it to his mouth and said he was about to die. As he did four figures stood around him. You four." Hermione said, pointing at the marauders and Lily.

"How is that possible?" Lily asked. Dumbledore leaned forward, curiosity and excitement lighting his features.

"The resurrection stone from the old story...was in the snitch." Hermione explained. "You four guided him through the forest. You told him you were proud of him."

"We are proud of him." Lily smiled, though her eyes were overbright. James pulled his son and wife closer. Hearing Harry walk to his death was emotionally taxing everyone. But knowing they were with him at least in spirit made them feel slightly better.

"He approached as his hour was up. He made it just in time and he faced death bravely. He said Voldemort didn't mess around this time. Just hit him with the killing curse."

"No!" Whimpered Lily.

"But...he lives." Whispered Sirius as if trying to convince himself. James was crying and so was Lily. Sirius and Remus moved to sit on the floor by James and Lily's legs where they could be by Harry.

"When Harry opened his eyes he was in a misty, white place. He didn't go into much detail about this, but apparently it looked like a clean King's Cross Station. While he was there, he saw Professor Dumbledore."

"That's impossible!" Exclaimed McGonagall.

"No. If he is meeting Dumbledore then he has to be dead." James moaned.

"What on earth is going on?" Remus asked, bewildered.

"Dumbledore explained that when Voldemort hit Harry with the killing curse he killed the bit of his own soul inside Harry. When Voldemort was coming back he took Harry's blood. The protection that Lily gave Harry when she died for him now lingered in Voldemort. In taking Harry's blood he secured Harry's life to his own."

"Of course." Dumbledore said smiling at his own logic in the future.

"So Harry isn't really dead?" Lily asked in a daze of confused hope.

"No. Anyway, Dumbledore explained about the Hallows and his youth. He told him his cloak was one of the hallows as well."

"My cloak is a hallow from stories?" James asked looking interested. Hermione nodded.

"Dumbledore told Harry a bit more about his youth which Harry didn't go into detail about, and what he did say I won't reveal. That is up to the professor. He explained that Harry had a choice. If he wanted to go back he could, if not then he could move on."

"If he wanted to Harry could die permanently this time?" Lily asked horrified. Hermione nodded.

"He decided to come back to us."

"He lived through the killing curse...twice! My little baby is a miracle." James cooed. Relief the dominant emotion on his face.

"When he came back, he was lying on the ground. He had to remain dead still. It seemed that when he had hit Harry, Voldemort had also fallen over."

"He felt his soul dying? He didn't feel any others." Lily frowned.

"I'm not sure, exactly, I think it was to do with the blood bond. Voldemort told a Death eater to check Harry was really dead."

"But they will know instantly he is alive. He is surrounded by Death Eaters." James burst out.

"He sent Narcissa Malfoy. She asked Harry very quietly if Draco was still alive. He said yes and she lied, saying he was dead."

"All she cares about is finding her son." Lily breathed an understanding smile on her face.

"Hagrid was in the forest, captured by Death Eaters. They made him carry Harry's body back to the castle."

"Poor Hagrid." Said Remus.

"Voldemort called everyone out of the castle. We saw Harry in Hagrid's arms. We thought he had died." Hermione broke into a sob. Sirius got up off the floor and pulled her into his arms. She leaned into Sirius' side and cleared her throat. "Voldemort lied about Harry. He said they killed him while trying to sneak out and save his own life."

"That evil…" James broke off. How dare he slate his son.

"We didn't believe him. Everyone knew Harry wouldn't do that. He's the noblest git ever." Hermione gave a choked sob. Everyone gave a watery smile. "We resisted. Neville charged at Voldemort who disarmed him and put him in a full body bind. Neville refused to join them and Voldemort forced the sorting hat on Neville's head and it burst into flames. Harry wasn't able to stand it so he put his cloak on and jumped up. At the same time a load of reinforcements came running towards us from the Hogwarts gate."

"Reinforcements?" James asked, looking stunned.

"Yeah, Slughorn had gone with Charlie Weasley and got people from Hogsmeade and students parents. Neville pulled the sword of Gryffindor from the hat and cut off Nagini's head."

"GO NEVILLE!" The room cheered, the dark mood finally lifting slightly.

"Hagrid noticed Harry was missing and the fight broke out again. Everybody was throwing spells everywhere. The centaurs came running out of the forest and the reinforcements arriving forced everyone back to the castle. Professor McGonagall, Slughorn and Kingsley were all duelling Voldemort. The students were duelling Bellatrix. A killing curse just missed Ginny and Mrs Weasley came running over to fight Bellatrix."

"Yeah! Go Molly!" Sirius cheered.

"She yelled 'Not my daughter you bitch!" Hermione smirked.

"Molly cursed? Wow." Sirius grinned.

"The house elves came out and started fighting, lead by Kreacher himself. Bellatrix was taunting Mrs Weasley and Mrs Weasley killed her."

"YES!" Sirius cheered louder than ever. "I'm going to give her the biggest hug ever." He beamed.

"Voldemort exploded in anger and his duellers were flown back. They were all ok." Hermione added, looking quickly at McGonagall. "Harry put up a shield between Voldemort and Mrs Weasley, finally revealing himself. He said it had to be him, he didn't want anyone to help."

Lily and James clutched hands. They knew this was it. The final moment where their son did the unimaginable.

"Harry explained that he had died for everyone that evening. He had given them all the same protection his mother had given him. Then he explained that Dumbledore's last plan had gone wrong. He intended for the power of the Elder Wand to die with him. His death had been planned and so he died undefeated. But it didn't quite work like that."

"Huh?" Now everyone looked confused except Dumbledore.

"He explained how Snape had been a spy for Dumbledore from the beginning and Voldemort argued then said it didn't matter because he had killed Snape so the wand was his. Harry pointed out that Malfoy had disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed him. Malfoy was actually the master of the Elder Wand. Until Harry disarmed him at Malfoy Manor."

"So Harry is the master of the wand that Voldemort has?" James gasped in understanding.

"He used the disarming spell as Voldemort tried to kill him. Voldemort was killed by his own rebounding curse."

Everyone was silent. They looked at each other and then the room exploded into cheers and delight. James and Lily were looking down at the baby in their arms incredulously. He had done it. Their little baby defeated the most dangerous wizard ever. All they could do was hold him and cry tears of happiness along with a few tears of sorrow for everything he had suffered.

Sirius pulled Hermione to him and kissed her in his excitement. She returned the kiss happily and then gratefully leaned back into his side to give her last words of the story.

"After that there was a time for mourning the dead. Harry told me and Ron everything that we had missed. He also used the Elder wand to fix his old Holly wand. Kingsley became Minister for Magic. And then the world tried to rebuild." Hermione finished. Everyone looked at each other again.

"I cannot believe it." Sirius said.

"Our little miracle baby." James grinned.

Once the initial high of Voldemort's death became to end everyone became somber once again as they remembered the cost it had come at.

"So what now?" Asked McGonagall.

(A/N OMG This chapter was sooo freaking long. Almost 20 word pages and 6 thousand words, I'm so glad I split up the last part. Well this is it...the final chapter of the story. I have to thank everyone who has stuck with me this past year. As always I welcome comments. I have to shoutout to Nika0645 who has stuck with me through every single story I've written on here, thank you for the moral support it's very much appreciated :) Thanks to Honestly Don't you two read, Agent Potter, My best mate E who have also stuck with me the whole way through this story. Thanks to everyone else as well, I don't have room to thank every single amazing person who reviewed. I will be doing a sequel with how they fix time. It will be called 'Changing Time'. In the meantime if you wanna check out more of my writing I will be posting Divergent story 'The Value of Bravery' and I'd be grateful if you could spare a few minutes to read and review that too. Wow this Authors Note is now ridiculously long, so thanks again, I hope you enjoy the story. I solemnly swear I am up to know good)


	31. Chapter 31

Hey guys, Just so you know, I have posted the first chapter of Changing Time. (I know. I'm being super quick recently, consider it an apology for being so slow towards the end of Back in Time) It is my first non canon fanfiction so any thoughts, ideas, comments and helpful hints as well as general encouragement are always welcome.

On a second note, I'm considering doing a story of James and Lily, how they got together and their years at Hogwarts. If you guys would like that let me know


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